Death City
by racecarghost
Summary: Celestia's dead, Luna's missing, and a new pony's up for the throne. Just before the crowning, an entire army from the underworld is released on Equestria. Only one pony could have unleashed beasts over Equestria. Each monster goes their own separate ways as the world is destroyed by war. Maybe all Equestria needs is help from a rainbow maned pegasus. Music and OC romance included
1. Character Info

**Hello everypony out there who has taken time out of their busy lives in order to read this fan fiction. I know all of you out there are expecting a juicy story right about now but before I begin, this first chapter will introduce all the new characters that will be featured in this story that haven't yet been introduced in the show themselves. Some of these "OC's" aren't particularly mine and are created by other authors, so I will be crediting them for their work. So, without further ado, here are the new characters:**

Name: Shadow****

Type: dark Pegasus (I'll get into what a dark Pegasus is later on)****

Gender: mare****

Skin Color: yellow****

Mane Color: pink with black extensions****

Cutie mark: bloodshot circle with flames****

Relations: Dusk****

Creator: me****

Description: Made by the mighty professor, this character was brought in as an adopted child and raised by a family of her own with another colt that took care of her and protected her. But, on a tragic day, she, along with the colt had been taken by the Equestrian military as prisoners. They were taken to a jail somewhere in space, where nopony could escape. One day there was a breakout, which gave the two a chance to escape, so they did. But, upon arriving at the exit of the jail, there was only one space pod left, and could only fit one pony. This caused the colt, as a protector of the Pegasus, to risk his own life in order for her to escape. After escaping and making it back to Equestria safely, a strong tension had grown into her own body, changing her own primordial form. Ever since then, Shadow has sworn to one day find the colt and rescue him, dead or alive, at all costs, no matter what it took. (for all of you out there shadow is the re-mastered version of the shy and timid Pegasus Fluttershy. When she gets angry, sad, hurt etch, she turns into Shadow)****

Name: Dusk Desolstice****

Type: Pegasus (originally an earth pony)****

Gender: stallion****

Skin Color: black****

Mane Color: white (I think)****

Cutie Mark:?****

Relations: Shadow/Fluttershy**  
****  
**Creator: Psychodrome (Nocturne)****

Description: The guardian colt of Shadow, having a crush and being life-long friends with her, he risked his own life just for Shadow to be safe and free (as mentioned above).****

Name: Raymond****

Type: Pegasus****

Gender: stallion****

Skin Color: beige, tan****

Mane Color: red****

Cutie Mark: pistol****

Relations: none****

Creator: Me****

Description: Being part of the Equestrian military, he quit because he wanted more action in his **  
**life. Always keeping cool and trying to hit on the "mane 6", he is constantly referred to as a"player". Raymond always loves that action of a fight and will never back down from one.****

Name: Thunder Ice****

Type: Unicorn (originally Pegasus)****

Gender: stallion****

Skin Color: dark blue****

Mane Color: dark brown****

Cutie Mark: lightning bolt and snowflake****

Relations: Twilight****

Creator: Thunder Ice (how ironic) (entire fan fiction)****

Description: Being originally form Earth, John Daniels was transferred into the world of ponies from a mysterious accident. While there, he brushes up on some magic and meets the mane 6. Fighting alongside the crew, he helps defeat evil in what seems to be a normal day for them.****

Name: Seamus****

Type: Alicorn****

Gender: colt****

Skin Color: black (I think)****

Mane Color: black (I don't really know what his mane color is)****

Cutie Mark:?****

Relations: Sky****

Creator: DWhay (Venus Rising)****

Description: Being a slave of the evil ruler Melody, he was abused sexually countless times. Once being freed by the mane 6 and Princess Celestia/Luna , he seeked on getting back his friend who was still under control by Melody, who would not sell one of her last slaves.****

Name: Silver****

Type: Unicorn****

Gender: mare****

Skin Color: silver****

Mane Color: grey****

Cutie Mark: turquoise sparks of light****

Relations: Tony****

Creator: Me****

Description: A pony from the future that came back to the past in order to stop her faithful city from being corrupted with all sorts of mystical fire demons. She is set, as a task, to stop and kill the one specific pony who had done this to her hometown in the future.****

Name: Tony****

Type: Pegasus****

Gender: stallion****

Skin Color: grey**  
****  
**Mane Color: black****

Cutie Mark: metal****

Relations: Silver****

Creator: Me****

Description: One of Silvers friends who helps her as she travels back to the past in order to save her world.****

Name: Snake Evergreen****

Type: Pegasus****

Gender: stallion****

Skin Color: green****

Mane Color: dark green****

Cutie Mark: ammo****

Relations: none****

Creator: Me****

Description: A part of a secret organization, Snake is one of the best troops, especially when it comes to stealth. He can sneak around the Canterlot castle without even being noticed.****

Name: Blue Bass "Ace"****

Type: Pegasus****

Gender: stallion****

Skin Color: blue****

Mane Color: black****

Cutie Mark: musical note****

Relations: Rainbow Dash****

Creator: thunderhawk6894 (The 7th Element)****

Description: Like Thunder Ice, Ace was also brought into Equestria. Having a strong like for Rainbow Dash, he would do anything to provide safety for her, even if it means killing himself in the process.****

Well, these are the original characters for now. I may add some more characters here sooner or later, so this character list isn't final. Also, I will also be taking OC requests for anyone who wants me to add their OC into the story. Just give me the name, as well as the type it is, the gender, the skin color, the mane color, its cutie mark, and its relations (it doesn't have to have a relation). With that said, I will soon be starting the first chapter of the story, so until then, good luck everypony!  



	2. Chapter 1 The Crisis Begins

**Well, I'm back, and ready than ever to start this story. With that said, let the fan fiction begin!**

Chapter 1 – The Crisis Begins

Rainbow Dash's POV

When thinking of the world of Equestria, what first would come to mind is peace and harmony. Everypony playing with each other and supporting all. Ponies sharing laughter as well as love. Gumdrops falling from the clouds as rainbows soar through the blank canvas of the sky. Everything seeming so…perfect. But that was a long time ago. It's been years since anypony has gotten along or even laugh. Ever since the rise of, of HIM, everypony went their separate ways. It was everypony for themselves. That was a foolish mistake. The result of this was millions of lives taken away from their very own bodies. Only a few have made it out alive and they spend the rest of their days hiding in the rubble and ashes of the city of what used to be known as Ponyville. Some have even committed suicide in order to escape the feeling of torture that they knew they would be facing in the future. Nopony around here lives anymore, we just survive. And those who survive will one day find the courage to confront the very soul of torture and destruction that has caused the madness of this massacre, of the nightmare which is Death City.

My name ….. is Rainbow Dash, speed queen herself. Everypony has heard of me, and those who don't, wish they could know me. I am one of the very few survivors who have made it this far in my life. What seems impossible to others is a cakewalk to me. Honestly, trying to survive in this hell hole isn't that bad, not when you've got friends by your side whenever you need help or assistance. Sure some of them can blow their fuse at you or annoy the crap out of you, or even turn rouge and try to kill you, but they still can be trusted time after time. And it's not just me and the other mane 5 confronting this war, we have also met some new allies along the way and have really expanded our colony. One day, when our army is big and powerful enough, and we have the strongest and toughest weapons, we will make our way into Death City and find the one who has wreaked chaos all over our beloved world. But until then, all we can do right now is fight to survive.

Right now, you might be curious as to what Death City is, and sad enough to say, I truly don't know what it is. I've heard old takes of the dumbest of the dumb such as Snips and Snails mentioning that they would be the saviors of the town and stop the Supreme Being destroying our town. A few days later, it was announced that both ponies had been killed in a mysterious way. Nopony knows what happened specifically, but a Pegasus from the weather team found scraps of blood, hide, as well as internal and external organs scattered everywhere. This shocked the entire town and they knew that if nopony could stop this chaotic ruler, then they would have to pay the price of the consequence, their lives. Sure enough, this soon became true. Ponies after Ponies, falling from grace, biting the dirt, the stench of death and decay luring out of their corpses.

/watch?v=Nybfqx9rZho  
(open link in a new tab on youtube)

**What are you talking about? Equestria is not going to be destroyed.**

**Never?**

**Canterlot was destroyed, **  
**Cloudsdale was destroyed, **  
**Fillydelphia was destroyed, **  
**Manehatten was destroyed.**  
**All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? **  
**How much longer do you really think your own country will last?**

**Forever?**

I remember one day seeing all these different kinds of monsters and demons infiltrate our own town. The force field we had put up over the town using Unicorn magic was very unstable and backfired on us, allowing the enemies to cross on to our territory. We weren't ready to give up then. Not now, not ever.

_Block the entrances_  
_Close the doors_  
_Seal the exits_  
_'Cause this is war_

_All gave some_  
_Some gave all_  
_But for what_  
_I want to know_

Ponies of all shapes and sizes charged towards the enemies. This was a truly fatal mistake that the citizens had made.

_Carry on_  
_Don't mind me_  
_All I gave was everything_  
_And yet you ask me for more_

_Fought your fight_  
_Bought your lie_  
_And in return I lost my life_  
_What purpose does this serve?_

I don't know how many enemies there were out there or what kind of monsters they were. There were so many species of monsters that I couldn't keep track of, with each of them having their own special abilities.

_A folded flag_  
_A purple heart_  
_A family all but torn apart_  
_I fought with courage to preserve_  
_Not my way of life, but yours_

Since I was just a filly at the time, I was forced to stay in my home up in Cloudsdale as I was forced to witness my parents and siblings fight in the battle. I could hear the loud, spine-tingling shrieks and screams of the innocent ponies literally being obliterated and torn limb by limb.

_Carry on_  
_Don't mind me_  
_All I gave was everything_  
_And yet you ask me for more_

_Fought your fight_  
_Bought your lie_  
_And in return I lost my life_  
_What purpose does this serve?_

I couldn't stop watching from my cloud home. I tried so hard to avert my eyes from the massacre, but my eyes had a mind of their own.

_The cowards preach from pedestals_  
_With words like courage and resolve_  
_But what they meant was fuck them all_  
_'Cause freedom isn't free_

_They send our daughters and our sons_  
_To deserts under burning suns_  
_A sacrificial slaughtering to fill_  
_The pockets of the weak_

_An artificial enemy Are we so easily deceived?_

_They carry on_

Soon enough, one of the enemies had sneaked around my own father and began to raise his spikey arm covered in blood, into the air. My soul dropped dead as I soon realized what was going to happen. I screamed as loud as my throat could allow me in order to get my father's attention, but it was already too late.

**You're a shameful opportunist! What you don't understand is that it's better to die on your hooves than to live on your knees.**

**You had it backwards. It's better to live on your hooves than to die on your knees.**

_Don't carry on_  
_Just walk away_  
_How many more sent to their graves_  
_In this lesson ignored?_

The arm of the enemy had closed in on my father as it slashed against his side all the way from his neck to his back. I had closed my eyes during this moment and when I opened them, I could not believe my eyes on what I was seeing below. My father lay on the ground, blood spewing from the heavy gash of incision crafted onto his right side.

_I fought your fight_  
_Bought your lie_  
_And in return I lost my life_  
_What purpose does this serve?_

A tear had shed from my eye after realizing I had just lost one of my closest friends in my life, my own father. I began to weep uncontrollably, everything becoming blurry as my own tears prevented me from seeing what was happening below in the war zone. This had actually been my first experience crying. I always had thought crying were for wimps and scaredy ponies like Fluttershy, but I was wrong. I never knew how much it hurt to cry, not on the outside, but on the inside.

_What purpose did I serve?_

The same thing had not only happened to my mother, but also to my brother too, I couldn't help but watch and cry as I saw both of them hit the ground as well as my father. I had felt so much empathy for them that I began to think if I should go and join them, if I should really commit suicide in order to see them once more. There were a bunch of voices in my head telling me to do so that I couldn't even think straight. Soon, I heard the sound of crunching leaves below me. Slowly and cautiously, I peered the upper half of my head outside the window. I couldn't see anything through the tears in my eyes, so I had to wipe them away with my hoof. When my vision became clear and into focus again, I could see one of the monsters below me, but this one happened to be one of the robotic ones. Its body covered with a thin layer of steel as well as a thin coat of red ruby paint over it. Its physical form resembled to the shape of an earth pony itself. Even though the robotic pony could not see me, I could still see it from an appropriate distance. Soon, a fuzzy stench had reached my nose and began to tickle my nostril, causing me to take deep breaths in and slowly….

"ACHOO!"

All of a sudden, as fast as a jet, the robot below me had turned his head up towards me and looked at me with his dot green eyes. I had a feeling of terror in me suddenly and new that I was going to die. This was until I had locked eyes with him. His small, bright green eyes showing a vast array of different colors and spectrums that even outstanded me. I moment of silence was between us as we just kept looking into each other's eyes until, the robotic pony swiftly and briskly turned around and began to slowly go back in the direction in which he came from, with one hoof in front of another. This deeply confused me. I suddenly meet a robot that I have never seen before, and then he just turns around and begins pacing himself the way he came from.

"WAIT!" I shouted. I swear, those words had just slipped out of my mouth like butter. The next thing I realized, I was airborne, face to face with the metallic pony that I had just met a few seconds ago.

"Why didn't you kill me or even hurt me when you found me?" I questioned. My curiosity had gotten the best of me as I began to ask him questions constantly that he was unable to answer.

The robot had just shot me the same exact look as he did when we had first met, an expression that held no emotion to it.

"Huh, you don't seem to be like the other intruders out there on the battlefield, do you?" I asked one more time

The robot still just stood there, still showing no emotion, then all of a sudden began to slowly cock his head to the right a little bit, and finally began to look down at the ground covered with not only dirt, but also blood of the nearby innocent citizens of Ponyville who had been killed by the enemies.

"You really don't seem that bad. I've got some great friends that would be delighted to meet you, follow me." I had managed to say. With that out there, I quickly grabbed the robot's hand and began flying him in the air, dodging all the attacks made by the enemies suspended on the ground.

"First stop, the library" I mumbled as I took off for the old oak tree in the north.

**Well, there you have it, my first ACTUAL chapter of this story. Seeing where this is going, I can predict this will be one hay of a story, don't you agree. For those of you who are curious, the song I used in this chapter was Survivor's Guilt by Rise Against. Occasionally, there will be certain chapters that will have songs in them that will add more effect to the stories theme itself. Not only am I taking OC requests, but I am also now taking song requests too. Just keep in mind that when you want a song to be featured in this story, you have to keep in mind that it has to fit in with the story. That means ABSOLUTELY NO JUSTIN BIEBER. With that said, I salute you guys and I hope you enjoy the next chapter which will be up soon.**

**Remember to review. The more reviews I get, the more effort I will put into the story, and the better a story it will become.**


	3. Chapter 2 Friend or Foe

**Hello, Im finally back and ready to update this story. I know ive been gone for a while and thats because of all the schoolwork suspending me from updating. Also, the NJ ASK is coming up soon, so for that week, there won't be any updates. But until then, enjoy the new chapter.**

Chapter 2 – Friend or Foe?

Third Person POV

As Rainbow Dash spotted the old oak tree in the distance known as the local town library, she soon began to descent slowly while still having the robot in her very own grasp. Once nearing the building, she then realized that what used to be a healthy, happy tree was now a burnt-up, crumpled old pile wood. Although a majority of the tree itself was severely damaged, It was still able to hold ponies within it.

When Rainbow Dash safely landed on the ground, she placed the robotic pony right next to her. Soon, the metallic pony turned his head towards Rainbow, then towards the badly burned wooden door that was the only thing blocking them from the inside of the library.

Rainbow Dash quickly and fiercely began to knock on the door of the library before any of the outside enemies luring around the city could find them and obliterate them. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a purple unicorn with a messed up mane and tail.

"RAINBOW DASH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE? QUICK, GET INSIDE BEFORE THEY FIND YOU! "With that said, Twilight pulled Rainbow Dash inside the library as well as the metallic pony too. She then quickly turned around and kicked the door behind her closed and making sure it was fully locked. She wanted to insure that no intruders could break into her own home.

Going over to the table over at the side, Twilight reached her mouth over to the candle-holder after lighting it with a match. The candlelight wasn't that big, but it was bright enough for Twilight an the others to see the environment around them.

When the darkness covering Rainbow Dash's eyes was distinguished by the bright light of the candle, she began to look around the library. Books were all on the floor and hanging off the shelves. Papers carrying all sorts of data were scattered all around. Even some of the windows had slights cracks or gaps in them. Before Rainbow Dash could even ask why the library was in a frenzied state, Twilight bursted out with questions.

"Why are you here Rainbow, and not at your own home in Cloudsdale with your parents?" Once Twilight had said this, a vision appeared in Rainbows head as she remembered the brutal scene of her families fatal death. All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash burst out crying, hot tears streaming down her warm face.

For being one of the smartest and most talented unicorns in Equestria, Twilight knew what was wrong and felt sympathy for her rainbow mane friend.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash. I didn't mean for you to get upset. "Twilight said in her most calm voice, trying to comfort her.

This whole time, the metallic pony had just been standing there as if he was glued in place, with his eyes fixed onto the two mares.

Twilight soon noticed the robot starring at her and her friend and, trying to change the subject to prevent Rainbow Dash from crying anymore, asked her another question.

"Umm," Twilight questioned. "Who is that?" She asked while pointing one of her front hooves toward the robotic pony while having the other front hoof over Rainbow's shoulder.

Rainbow Dash soon wiped the tears away from her eyes before responding to twilights question. "Oh, he's the whole reason why I came over here." Rainbow Dash replied, with a hint of sadness and sorrow in her voice. "I don't exactly know who he is, but I thought you might know what to do with him."

All of a sudden, a large explosion outside went off, causing the ground beneath the ponies and robot to shake violently from the impact.

"QUICK!" Twilight yelled. "GET TO THE BASEMENT, Its safer and more stable down there" She shouted out towards Rainbow Dash and her friend. With that said, The two mares made a beeline for the door leading to Twilight's basement right before Dash turned around and noticed that the metallic pony behind her wasn't following them at all. He just stood there, looking at the ground, continuously showing no emotion. Because of this, Rainbow grabbed the robot by the arm and began to drag him across the already burnt wooden floor of the library.

It was a very hectic experience for Dash when she had to pull a few hundred pound piece of bolts and scrap metal down the inclined stairs. When she made it to the bottom, Rainbow Dash quickly hit the floor, breathing heavily. Just because she was a fast flier, didn't mean that necessarily she was strong. Regaining her energy and conscious again, she stood up on all four hooves and then noticed that she, Twilight, and the robotic pony weren't the only ones in the basement. Eyes of all different shapes and colors stared at Rainbow Dash and her metallic friend. She soon noticed that Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were also concealed in the same room as she was. Some hid in the dark corner away from any of the monsters dwelling on the surface, while others just sat there and waited for the nightmare to be over. Shockingly, they were not the only ponies in the room. There were also different kinds of colts and stallions in the room as well, yet Dash had never met them and had no clue who they were. There was a silence between the group of ponies, and having the silent robotic pony in the room made it no better.

Twilight realized that nopony was getting along or even communicating, so she was the first to start up a conversation.

"Rainbow Dash, allow me to introduce you to some survivors I found a while ago." With that, she extended her hoof towards a green Pegasus with a messed up dark green mane. "This is Evergreen." After introducing the two, Evergreen got up from his sitting place across the wall of the library and began trotting over to Rainbow Dash.

"Please, call me Snake." He exclaimed. Once Rainbow Dash had taken a closer look at him, she realized that he had some battle scars around his face and back. Rainbow Dash then understood that he was probably one of the ponies engaged in the war outside who was lucky enough to survive and find refuge.

"Moving on, we also have Seamus." Twilight mentioned as he pointed to a dark black pony with a black mane. "When he got up to introduce himself to Rainbow Dash, Rainbow was taken aback that he not only had the horn of a unicorn, but also the wings of a Pegasus. Rainbow Dash knew that alicorns were extremely rare and were born only once very thousand years, but she could not believe her own eyes that standing right in front of her was an alicorn, the rarest of the ponies species. Rainbow Dash also realized that he was the only colt in the room, with everypony else being a stallion or a mare. Rainbow Dash also could tell that he was somewhat shy since he refused to introduce himself to Rainbow Dash.

"Seamus isn't really known to communicate that much." Twilight exclaimed. Standing by Twilight soon approached a dark blue stallion with a dark brown mane. With the horn he had, Rainbow Dash could tell he was obviously a unicorn.

"The names Thunder Ice." He said. He seemed like a nice stallion, but Rainbow Dash noticed out of the corner of her own eye that Twilight was slightly blushing when he had passed by her. Rainbow could soon tell the future between them.

"Finally." Twilight said in a somewhat low voice, "There's Ramond." She said pointing with her hoof to a tan Pegasus with a red mane and tail. Rainbow Dash could see he was leaning against one of the walls of the library, standing on only his back two hooves. Rainbow Dash knew that he would come in handy for the future, so she accepted him as one of her own friends.

After everypony in the room was introduced, everypony in the room had the same exact question on their mind. Who is the robotic pony?

**Yay, suspense. In the next chapter, they will be finding out who the metallic pony really is and why he didn't plan on killing all of Ponyvilles civilization. Also, I am still looking for new OC and song requests too. Until then, please review my story. The more reviews, the more effort I put into my story, the better it becomes.**


	4. Chapter 3 My Little Superhero

** I'm back again and ready for another update of this story. This chapter will get more into detail on the new cast members. Also, I am looking forward to new ideas to add to this story. If you have any new ideas, post it in the replies and I will check it out later. Now, let's begin the story.**

Chapter 3 – My Little Superhero

After getting to know everypony in the room, all eyes turned to the metallic pony standing by the stairwell and Rainbow Dash, still as a brick. Just like always, his face seemed to carry no emotion. There was a silence for a full minute before somepony had the courage to ask who he was.

"And you are?" Asked Seamus. Rainbow had gotten a little upset from this since Seamus refused to talk to her, yet was brave enough to confront the neutral robot.

All the robot did was cock his head to the side slowly as he usually did, hen began to look down again.

"Rainbow Dash, what's wrong with him?" Applejack asked while still sitting on the ground.

"I don't know." She exclaimed. "I just found him and asked his some questions off the top of my head and he refused to answer any of them. I think he is unable to talk."

"Poor fellow, it must be impossible to talk. I mean really, talking is like cake and candy and chocolate, something you can't live without. I don't think I ever could go an entire day without talking. I don't even think I can go an hour without talking or even a minute or even a second. Talking is what makes the world around us fun and exciting. Without it, nopony could communicate, and with no communication, there would be no friends, and with no friends, there would be no friendship, and with no friendship, there would be no"

"PINKIE!" Everypony yelled. They were all getting tired of her constant talking that it got to their heads.

"Oh, hehe" Pinkie said shyly and embarrassed. "I guess I went a little off topic"

"A little, have you split your bit or some'in, you were going on and on and on faster than a cheetah running a marathon." Yelled Applejack.

"Girls stop! This isn't the time for fighting. It's already bad enough that half the town has already been wiped out." Twilight argued. She was getting tense from all the stress building up in her body. "Now, as I was saying, do you have a name?" Twilight asked as she began to face the metallic pony. He still didn't move and just kept looking at the ground with his dot green eyes. "I'll take that as a no?" She said.

"Why don't we give him a name?" Rarity chipped in. "Oh, I've always wanted to name my son Ruby"

"Ruby, what kind of name is taht? I think Yellow Delicious is a better name." Applejack interrupted.

"How about Cupcake!" Pinkie said joyfully, with energy in her voice.

"Red Spark sounds like an interesting name" blurted Twilight, excited of the name she thought of.

Soon the whole room erupted into arguments as each and everypony kept yelling at each other that their name was stupid and wouldn't be a clever name. And that was just the start of things. Suddenly, things got worse. What used to be a gentle, calm argument now turned into a brutal and vicious battle. Ponies were hitting each other and pulling on their manes and tails. This whole time, Fluttershy was just shaking in a corner, trying best not to get involved in the rough-housing. Soon, the fighting was put to a stop as Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"STOP!" Her screams were loud enough to not only get everyponys attention, but to also shatter glass in a 50 meter radius. As everypony got off each other and became more civilized, Rainbow Dash spoke up again.

"Look, I was the one who found him in the first place, so I suggest giving me the right to name him." Rainbow said. Everypony found reason for this and all accepted Rainbow Dash's idea. Thinking hard, Rainbow tried to come up with the coolest, most radical name that she could think of. Minutes of silence had passed buy as Rainbow Dash kept thinking hard for a name, putting not only her mind into it, but also her heart too. Finally, the name had sprung into her head, and she was proud of the name. "I have came to a conclusion" she stated. Rainbow soon began to turn to the metallic pony till they were face to face, nose to nose. "I Rainbow Dash, am honored to now meet you, Spectrum"

"Spectrum?" Everypony in the room question.

"Why in the whole wide world of Equestria would you pick a name like that, darling" Rarity questioned, not liking the name one bit.

"Because he reminds me of my family." Dash said, trying to prevent tears from coming out of her eyes. "Because I can see something special inside him, something special that I can't yet put my hoof on." She added while turning to Spectrum. "And besides, the name seems to really stick with him."

"Well, It's settled then" Twilight said while reaching out a hoof to Spectrum. "Welcome to the heard"

Spectrum saw Twilight extend her front hoof towards him and gratefully accepted it by putting his hoof out and shaking hers.

**Well, looks like we've got another character who has joined the heard. In the next chapter, they will be discussing plans and tactics on how to save their world from the mysterious new ruler. Also, I am still looking for more OC's and song requests as well as new story ideas. It would be really grateful if you could actually give me some constructive criticism as well so I could make my story better and more appealing. Please review while you're at it. I feed off on your reviews and right now I'm starving. I NEED MORE REVIEWS. Until next time, I'm out.**


	5. Chapter 4 An Escape Plan

**Yay, I'm back and ready to update this story again. This chapter is where things start to get interesting as the few ponies taking refuge in Twilight's library devise a plan to escape Ponyville before the monsters from hell find them. Let's see what happens.**

Chapter 4 – An Escape Plan

Third Person POV

"Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" Twilight announced, ready to devise up a plan in order to escape the death trap they were stuck in.

As Twilight made her way to the table in the center of the room, everypony else began to slowly make their way to the table as well, trying not to bump into anypony else. They already had enough confusion for one day.

As they all began to round the table, there was a moment of silence between the group of ponies before Twilight got things started.

"So, as a start of this, what we should know before we get anything done here is to know what exactly we are dealing with here." Twilight stated. This truly confused everypony else in the room because nopony knew even the slightest bit of what could have caused this or even why it was caused. What purpose did the war occurring on the surface have? What did such innocent ponies do in order to deserve this brutal faith? The same question stung everypony and what made it more frustrating was nopony knew exactly what it meant.

"I think your being a little too vague, Twi." Thunder Ice mentioned. It had only been a few hours before they met and he already had a nickname for her. "What we should be asking ourselves is who would be so cruel as to not only take the throne away from Princess Celestia, but also to unleashed an army of demons from the underworld in order to wipe out our beloved species." Thunder Ice explained. This just began to make matters even more confusing and complex.

"How about we think of a way to get revenge on the intruders and send them back from where they came." Snake added

"I say we blow those bastards right out of the ground and show them what happens when they mess with ponies" Raymond detailed, still keeping his cool.

"Cursing will not be tolerated down here." Rarity yelled "Inappropriate language is for low-class individuals only, unlike me."

"Heh, like I'm not the only low-class pony in this room." Raymond replied. This not only furiated Rarity, but also make her go mad with rage.

"Dear Celestia, in all my years of living I have never met anypony who is so rude and has no manners or is even the slightest bit civilized." Rarity screamed, her white coat turning into a fire blazing red. "Do you even consider that maybe us other ponies out here have feelings too. But no, all you're worried about is loosing your cool. WHAT'S TO LOOSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY?" By this time, Rarity was screaming at the top of her lungs, constantly yelling at Raymond of all his so called "flaws" in life. The whole time, Ramond just had his back turned to Rarity, which told Rarity that he wasn't giving the slightest bit of attention to her. Soon Rarity just lost it and began to charge at Raymond. As she closed in on him, A layer of light blue magic layed on the outskirts of Raritys skin as she soon realized that she was stopped in place in mid-air. Turning to her side to look, Rarity found that Thunder Ice had used his magic to stop the two from colliding.

"ENOUGH!" Thunder Ice yelled. "I've had one hell of a day and all this fighting hasn't made it any better. Don't you see whats going on? Ever since the new lord has taken the throne, we have been at a chaotic state ever since." He then began to lower Rarity from the air and set her on the ground unharmed.

"Your right." Twilight responded. "Wait a minute, a chaotic state? Chaotic, hm, OH!" Twilight gasped "Chaos!"

"Whadda ya recon she means?" Applejack began to ask Pinkie.

"I dunno." Pinkie Pie repied

"Girls, what do you think of when you think of chaos?" Twilight added. "Cotton candy clouds, chocolate rain, bunnies with long legs?"

"Discord!" The mane 6 said at the same time. The same evil being that brought chaos and disharmony to not only Ponyville, but also Equestria.

Everypony was taken aback when they realized who was really the one taking controll of Equestria. They never expected someone who could cause such harmless pranks make a huge mess of a massacre.

"Now that we know who is really behind this, what do we do now?" Snake asked, still confused on what to do.

"Well, we can't go and defeat Discord yet, our army isn't big enough. And besides, we don't even know where the hay Discord is even right now." Twilight mentioned.

"I think I know someone who can be of assistance" A soft slow voice chipped in from the back of the group. Everypony turned their heads to where the voice was coming from. It was from none other than Fluttershy.

"Oh, who is it" Twilight asked

"He is as strong as a bear, as fierce as a bull, as caring as a can be, and is also a savior." Fluttershy mentioned. "His name... is Dusk, Dusk Desolstice."

**Yes, looks like we have a new character added to the theme of the story. The next chapter will focus on preparations on their quest to save Dusk. Also, I am still looking for new OC's ans well as new songs too. With that said, I command you to review and say anything you want into it. Even if it is a negative review, I would still like to see it.**


	6. Chapter 5 Preparations

** I'm back! Also, good news is coming your way. I finally got my own laptop, meaning I will be able to update quicker and more frequently. Now we will begin with the next chapter. This chapter will be on how they prepare to save Dusk. With that said, let's begin.**

Chapter 5 – Preparations

(For now and on, the rest of the story will be in third person)

"His name... is Dusk Desolstice." Fluttershy said behind the group of ponies.

"Hey, Isn't he that famous pianist guy?" Rainbow Dash questioned

"Oh yeah, I remember him. He was good and all, but his genre of music didn't really match my personality. I like my music too be more lively, maybe even heavier." Pinkie added

"Wait, did you say Dusk?" Twilight asked Fluttershy. "I've heard of him, but one day he was mysteriously taken from this world. Do you know where he is now?"

Fluttershy simply nodded her head as a response to Twilights question.

"Well, where is he?" Twilight questioned

/watch?v=65_y8Tqf8gA

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Fluttershy began trotting up the stairs and out of the basement slowly, with everpony else following her. Once she made it to the upstairs of the library, she could see it hadn't became any better than how it was before.

_Like a new day rising  
Like a calm before the storm  
Like fog lifting from valleys  
On a sleeping forest floor  
Eyes open slowly as the dust is shaking off  
To gaze upon the wreckage  
That the midnight hands have wrought_

As everypony followed behind her, she made her way to one of Twilights windows on the right side of the library. This window was special since it was one of the very few windows in Ponyville that wasn't damaged or shattered.

_And now I  
I feel my temperature rising  
My body explode  
I feel like somepony's watching  
__Like I'm not alone I stop dying, vowed right then and say that_

As everypony began to catch up with her, she then extended a hoof to the dark night skies. It took a while for everpony to realize what she was pointing at directly, but after a while, they could see what Fluttershy herself was looking at.

_Whatever path you take  
Wherever you may go  
__Whenever you decide to leave  
I will follow  
I will follow_

"They call that place... the Ark." Fluttershy said. "It's the most advanced prison and science lab ever created in the history of Equestria. Everypony who's ever been sent up there has never came back alive. Everypony, but me."

_We face a crossroad never knowing what's in store  
There's an angel on my shoulder  
There's a devil at my door  
She proclaimed that tonight  
Will be the greatest of our lives  
And I said, don't be so sure  
Let's just wait until the morning light_

"YOU'VE BEEN IN THE ARK BEFOR?" Everypony managed to scream, startling Fluttershy.

_I feel my temperature rising  
My body explode  
I feel like somepony's watching  
Like I'm not alone  
I stop dying, vowed right then and say that  
_

_Whatever path you take  
Wherever you may go  
Whenever you decide to leave  
I will follow  
I will follow  
_

"Well, now that we know where Dusk is, why don' we go up there and get him?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Are you crazy?" Twilight yelled. "Didn't you hear Fluttershy, Everypony who has gone up there has never made it back down alive."

_There in the clearing  
We gather close  
Under the moon's pale light  
We lay out the tools  
You don't have to do this  
And I forgive you if you don't  
She just looked away  
And said "I know"_

"If I recalled, she said everypony who has gone up there has never made it back down alive, BUT her." Thunder Ice replied.

_Gripped by the midnight hands  
We cradle futures  
They might prevent  
Gripped by the midnight hands_

_The lines cross over_  
_The dawn grows closer_  
_In spite of too much_  
_It's just with a blind trust_  
_In water over our heads_

"Fluttershy, how were yall able to escape from the Ark?" Applejack asked

Fluttershy began to sigh before replying "He had risked his own life for me to be safe and get down back to Equestria unharmed." She said before looking back down at the floor.

_Whatever path you take  
And wherever you might go  
And whenever you decide to leave  
I will follow  
I will follow_

_I won't bet on the falls you take_  
_I won't let go if you started to stay_  
_I'll be there until you don't wake up_  
_I will follow_  
_I will follow_  
_I will follow_

_Whatever path you take (I will follow)_  
_Wherever you might go (I will follow)_  
_Wherever you decide to leave (I will follow)_

"Well guys, looks like we know what were going to have to do." Snake said, drawing all the eyes around him.

"Agreed. If we can get Dusk out of the Ark safe and sound, we'll have a greater chance of saving our own world."

"Um, excuse me, but where exacltly is the intrance to the Ark?" Seamus shyly asked, trying not to get too much attention.

"Over there out in the distance is a underground shuttle launcher." Flutterhsy replied. "If we can locate it, we should be able to reach the Ark unharmed. But it is quite risky and not all of us will surely make it out alive. We will be risking our lives."

"Well, it's settled then." Twilight added. "Tomorrow we will gather the toughest, hardest weapons we can find around here and head off for the ark. Any questions?"

"Yeah, will refreshments be provided?" Pinkie Pie asked in her usual silly voice._  
_

**I can't believe I'm already done with chapter five. This story is going by quicker than I expected. I am still looking for new OC's as well as new songs to add into this story. Also, speaking of songs, the song I played in this chapter happened to be Midnight Hands by Rise Against. I know, I know, I keep on using Rise Against songs. That's only because their music is good and it really fits my writing. I will try to use different types of artists in my next chapters as well as some instrumental pieces. Also, I will soon be starting a short little one chapter story called Shadow Origins which will be what happened before Dusk had gotten trapped on the Ark. I now advise you to read my story or perish by the flames of an ever-burning fire. See ya next ****time. :D**


	7. Chapter 6 As Sweet As Can Be

**The holy racecarghost has arrived. Save your applause for the end of the chapter. I don't really have much to say about this chapter besides that it will be that start of a new adventure. Lets see what happens to the gang.**

Chapter 6 – As Sweet As Can Be

It was a cool crisp summer day in the land of Equestria. The intruders had already laid waste to Ponyville the other day and had left hours ago. Today was a very important day to the ponies in Twilight's library. This would be their first rescue.

Fluttershy was the first of the gang to wake up. She had trouble sleeping all night. Visions of her and Dusk passed through her mind. How happy they were when they were younger made Fluttershy a bit sad. But, she knew that today would be the day in which she could rescue him , the day she could confess on how much she really missed him, on how much she really loved him.

Suddenly, Fluttershy had heard some yawning from her left ear, followed by the cracking of bones. She turned her head to see Twilight awake and stretching her hooves.

"Morining Fluttershy" Twilight said as she noticed Fluttershy was also awake. Fluttershy just gave her a quick nod and turned the other way to look out the window. Even in the daytime, she could still see the Ark in the distance. The Ark happened to be a circular figure with a pipe coming down to Equestria in the distance. The pipe was the only way to get in and out of the Ark.

After she was done stretching, Twilight turned her head the other way to see what time it was. "Oh my Celestia!" She yelled. It was 10:30a.m and they were supposed to be awake by 8:00a.m. "Everypony get up now!"

Soon, all the other ponies in the room had awoke, all of them but Rainbow Dash.

"Five more minutes." She mumbled before rolling her head to the other side of the pillow.

"Rainbow Dash, this is serious!" Twilight yelled. "We were supposed to be on our way hours ago. We are already late enough, your just making it worse for everypony."

"You guys just go on without me, you don't really need my help" She said while her eyes were still shut. "It's not like the Ark is heavily guarded with security guards."

"We don't have time for this." Thunder Ice said. With that, he used his magic to levitate the sleepy Rainbow Dash out of her sleeping bag.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" Rainbow asked demandingly.

"Teaching you a lesson " Thunder ice responded, levitating her higher, then all of a sudden, letting go his magical grip on her. Rainbow Dash fell to the floor followed by a thud from the impact.

"Whats your problem?" Rainbow dash furiously asked while rubbing her forehead in pain,

"My problem is that I have to constantly live in the same room as you, as well as breathe the same air as you" Thunder Ice responded

"My little ponies, do you realize whats happening? Look what Discord is doing to us. If this continues, we won't be able to get anywhere." Twilight mentioned "If we can just work together, we can get through this and get our world back."

"Fine." Thunder Ice answered "But don't expect Rainbow and me to become friends or anything."

"Heh, like I want to be friends with some colt who sucks his hoof and talks in his sleep." Rainbow Dash said.

"You really don't want to see my dark side." Thunder Ice shot back.

"You wanna go?" Rainbow Dash added. " I'll kick you flank in ten seconds flat"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight yelled. "I'm sick of all this fighting!"With that said, she quickly used her magic to zip up not only Rainbow Dash's mouth, but also Thunder Ice's mouth too.

"Now, until you two can get along, you won't be able to talk, understand?" Twilight mentioned

All Thunder Ice and Rainbow Dash could do was nod to Twilights question.

"Good." She said. "Now, let's go eat before we leave." With that said, Twilight went into the kitchen followed by the rest of the gang.

Once the group arrived at Twilights kitchen, everypony was taken aback at what they saw. A red tablecloth with pink and orange flowers on it held an assortment of different kinds of breakfast meals. Wheat pancakes, hay sandwiches, even egg and toast. Everything was not only made to perfection, but was also still warm.

"FOOD!" screamed Pinkie Pie as she dashed over to the wheat pancakes, diving head first into them, and chewing them obnoxiously loud for everypony to hear.

"Twilight, I didn't know yall could cook." Applejack joined in.

"I didn't cook this, honestly." Twilight replied.

"Then if yall didn't cook this, who did?" Applejack questioned.

Just as if on cue, a sizzling sound flew through the air, able for everypony to hear. They all turned their heads in the direction in which the sound was coming from, only to see none other than a red, metallic pony cooking eggs on Twilight's stove.

"Spectrum! Did you make all this?" Seamus asked, still hidden by everypony else in fron of him.

All Spectrum did was turn his head towards Seamus, then, as always, began to look down as if he had done something wrong.

"No darling, what you did wasn't wrong at all." Rarity mentioned, while taking a bite of a hay sandwich. "If I should say so myself, Its delightful."

"This food isn't just delightful, Its amazing!" Pinkie added while stuffing her mouth with eggs and hay. "You guys should really try some of this!"

After saying that, the rest of the gang made their way around the table and began to try the food for themselves. And shockingly, they all loved it, all except for Raymond.

"Raymond, aren't you gonna try some of this magnificent breakfast?" Twilight asked, pushing a hay sandwich towards Raymond. All Raymond did was turn his back to Twilight and closed his eyes, still leaning with his back two hooves against the wall.

"Don't worry Twilight. For all I know, let him starve to death till he comes back to us, begging for mercy." Rarity spoke. Twilight was shocked that her friend had stooped so low as to assume such a thing. Trying to change the subject, Twilight spoke up.

"So this whole time when we were asleep, you were fixing breakfast for us?" Twilight asked Spectrum. All he did was look back at the ground again and went back to the eggs he was cooking.

After everypony had finished eating, they began to prepare for what would be one of their hardest experiences of their life. Each of them were scurrying around Twilights library, trying to find any sort of material that could either be used as a weapon, or as armor. They needed all the help they could get, considering the Ark was nearly impossible to escape, not mentioning how hard it is to even get there in the first place. Once everypony was done gathering all the weapons they could find, the met back downstairs by the entrance of the library.

"Alright!" Twilight shouted, trying her best to be the general of the group. "What we are facing here is a life-or-death situation right here and now. One of our own allies has been captured and it is our job to not only find him, but rescue him at all costs. I will not be taking no as an answer. Am I clear!"

At first, nopony answered.

"AM I CLEAR!" Twilight yelled in her loudest tone possible.

Everypony began shaking their heads violently signaling that they were ready for the journey.

"Good, now, according to the map right here." Twilight said, using her magic to pull out a map from her saddlebag.

"Oh brother." Snake said to Raymond, rolling his eyes.

"I herd that!" Twilight said, getting ticked off on what Snake said. "Now as I left off, according to this map, we will have to travel through... the Everfree forest to reach the Ark."

"The Everfree forest!" Everypony said, while a shiver was sent through all their spines.

"I know this voyage will be risky, but with Fluttershy at our side, we can and will be able to do this. Now, who's with me?"

Like before, nopony answered her and just stood there.

"I said, WHOS WITH ME!" Twilight yelled

This startled the crowd, and everypony soon began cheering and stomping their hooves on the ground.

"Now lets do this." Twilight said, leading the group of ponies with her.

At the back of the line was Fluttershy as she mumbled to herself:

"I'm coming for you, Dusk."

**Another chapter done. I am on a roll. I am, as always, still looking for new OC's and song requests and I haven't been getting many lately. Also, some sad news: the NJASK is coming up soon and on the week of the test, I am getting my laptop confiscated by my parents until the test is over. Until then, I can't have any updates to this story since it is testing week. I will warn you beforehand the week of the test. With that said, I hoped you like this chapter and I would appreciate it if you reviewed my story. Review or perish.**


	8. Chapter 7 Dark Dirty or Light Lovely

**Guess who's back? I'm here and more ready than ever to write this story. A little important info about me before we begin. I usually like to write each chapter a few days to a week before I post them. I do this to ensure the previous chapters play along with the future chapters so that there will be no confusion. Now let's begin our next chapter. Let's see how the ponies do in the Everefree forest. (I sense a song coming along.)**

Chapter 7 – Dark and Dirty or Light and Lovely

It had been around five minutes since Twilight and the gang had left off on their journey to save Dusk from the Ark. Since they would be battling Discord and his army of demons, the group of ponies needed all the help they could get before they could confront Discord themselves.

"Are we there yet? My hoofs are getting dirty from all the wreckage here." Rarity complained

Sure enough, she was right. Building and stands were collapsed over each other. Some were burned to a crisp while others were scattered across the ground.

/watch?v=1F0Fmuf-S54

(copy and paste in a new tab on youtube)

_All the way at the bottom  
Of these barrels we cry out  
So ashamed of our tears that  
We blame only ourselves  
_

_That's when they win  
They keep us convinced  
To lift up our chins  
These playing fields are level  
We all have a chance  
With that they dismiss  
The fast lanes they rode  
In which access depends on who you know  
_

_Or where you came from  
Whose filly are you?  
Whose fortunate colt?  
We're told  
To stick out our hoofs  
They feast from the linens  
while we settle for crumbs_

Ponies bodies were scattered across the ground from the other day. From the massacre.

_Is this an over-reaching arm  
Or is this compassion?  
Is this a handout undeserved  
Or a just reparation?_

Everypony in the group kept their position behind one another, each of them wearing their pony-made armor and carrying their weapons close by in case of danger.

_All the way from the towers  
High above glass ceiling tombs  
Tell themselves  
That they've earned this  
By working hard  
Or playing by the rules  
_

_But this is only part true  
A dangerous trick  
Played on me and you  
And so like a practical joke  
We pulled on these bootstraps_

_So hard that they broke_

The intense heat from the daytime sun was beating hard down on the group of ponies. No longer was the sun controlled by Celestia, but rather Discord.

_Is this an over-reaching arm  
Or is this compassion?  
Is this a handout undeserved  
Or a just reparation?_

_And like a single domino  
That falls while the rest stay vertical  
We're fed these empty fairy tales  
Or will you believe them?_

What used to be a happy, joyful town with such happy citizens, suddenly turned over to a wasteland of shattered buildings and deceased ponies brought sadness to the group.

_And if there's a God  
You better pray  
That this sleeping giant never wakes_

_If we just take a step back_  
_A bigger picture we might view_  
_Perhaps the colt in the gutter_  
_Is not so different from you_

_Come in out of the cold_  
_Forget all that you know_  
_Because there's always been room_  
_By the fire for you_  
_Come in out of the cold_

Everypony could not stand nor would want to even be in an environment with such quietness and how little liveliness. It seemed as if a great pony war had happened right in Ponyville and they were loosing.

_Will you believe them?_

_Is this an over-reaching arm  
Or is this compassion?  
Is this a handout undeserved  
Or a just reparation?  
_

_And like a single domino  
That falls while the rest stay vertical  
We're fed these empty fairy tales  
And I'm through believing_

The group of ponies were trying as hard as possible to avoid the rotten stench of all the deceased citizens laying on the ground and buildings of what used to be Ponyville.

"Heh, hell doesn't seem so bad of a place after all." Raymond mentioned. "At least, not compared to this place."

"Has it ever come to your attention that your not the only pony here." Rarity complained. "We can still hear you. So, if your going to use profanity, use it in your head. Talk to yourself for all I know."

"Why do the white mares always have to be the biggest bitches." Raymond mumblet to himself."

"THAT'S IT!" Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs. Her white coat and purple mane suddenly turning as red as fire. Her own body had became more tenser than ever. A mixture of hatred and revenge scrambled through her own mind. With that said, she began charging towards Raymond as fast as her own hoofs could carry her, only to be hit in the head by a frying pan, knocking her unconscious.

"What did you do that for." Raymond asked Snake, who had gripped a frying pan handle in his teeth. "I could of taken her on myself . By the way, It's not like mares are that strong anyway.

"Rarity? RARITY!" Twilight screamed, rushing over to Rarity's assistance. "Are you alright?" She asked.

All Rarity did was mumble to herself, indicating to Twilight that she was still alive. Twilight couldn't really make out what Rarity was saying but it was something like. "I'm going to kill him."

"Great, we barely have made any progress so far and we already have one of our troops unconscious." Twilight said, having a hint of anger in her voice. "Just for that, Raymond, you are going to have to carry Rarity until he awakes."

"I'd rather commit suicide than carry that drama queen." Raymond replied, refusing to carry Rarity on his back. "I don't want any of her makeup to get on me."

"I'll carry her." Said a happy, energetic voice from the back of the group. It happened to be none other than Pinkie Pie.

"You really want to carry that bitch?" Raymond asked while making fun of Raymond. "Go ahead, be my guest."

"Let us not forget that it was YOU who had made Rarity unconscious in the first place." Twilight yelled. "You don't even have to be part of this group. For all I care, you could go off all by yourself and get killed by one of the enemies."

"So what your saying is that you don't want any of my expertise on fighting and defense." Raymond replied. "Your saying that you want to go to the Ark without me and get caught trying to break Dust out and spend the rest of your days trapped in that prison!"

"EVERYPONY SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs. "Don't you see whats happening? Discord is playing with our minds. He wants us to be out of control so we won't be able to work together, meaning that we won't be able to save Equestria."

Everypony began looking at the ground in disappointment as Rainbow Dash continued her lecture.

"Now, if we can at least GET to the Ark without any more disruptions or distractions, we might be able to rescue Dusk." Rainbow continued. With that, she swiftly turned around and began trotting towards the Everfree forest before stopping dead in her tracks.

"Wait, where's Spectrum?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around the group in search of a red metallic pony."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Twilight responded, lifting up her head again. "Right before we left the library, I asked if he would like to join us, but all he did was cock his head as usual then begin to look at the ground. I don't think he wanted to come with us. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash."

"Sorry? What are you sorry for Twi." Rainbow Dash replied. "It isn't that big of a deal to me." After saying that, she flew up into the sky before announcing "Come on huys, we have to hurry up. We already had way too many delays already. We should have rescued Dusk hours ago, but we really are behind schedule."

"She's right yall, let's go before anything else pops in our way." Applejack agreed.

With that, the ponies began galloping towards the Everfree forest, with Pinkie Pie carrying the unconscious Rarity on her back.

* * *

"We'll, here we are." Twilight said, a hint of frightfulness crafted into her voice.

"The Everfree forest?" The remainder of the group shriveled.

"Come on guys, it's not that bad." Rainbow Dash mentioned before taking off into the air and soaring above the sky.

"Easy for yall to say." Applejack responded. "Your a darn Pegasus for petes sake. How do yall think life would be if you, oh I don't know, DID'T HAVE WINGS?"

"Hey, I can go through this entire forest without even needing to unfold my wings." Rainbow Dash replied furiously, diving towards Applejack, being face to face with the southern earth pony.

"Oh yeah? Prove it" Applejack said, spitting on one of her front hooves and sticking it out towards Rainbow Dash.

"You're on." Rainbow answered, also spitting on her hoof and hitting it against Applejack's hoof, accepting her challenge.

"Girls, focus." Twilight said, breaking the bet. "Like I said before, we don't need any more distractions. We've already had enough for one day."

"Well she started it." Rainbow added, pointing a hoof towards Applejack, still airborne. The result of this was a buck to the face by none other than Applejack.

"Hey, watch it" Rainbow Dash yelled, rubbing her jaw with her hoof.

"What I can't understand is why each of us keep on getting tangled in these arguments with one another." Twilight mentioned.

"What I can't understand is why Applejack has to constantly be a jack-wagon." Rainbow Dash said, intimidating the earth pony.

"What did yall just call me!" The furious Applejack responded.

"SHUT THE HAY UP, EVERYPONY!" Snake screamed. "I've had it up to here with all this arguing. We've barely covered any ground yet and its already noon. How in the wide, wide world of Equestria do you plan to get to the Ark at this rate." By this point Snake was all worked up.

"Snake just calm down. We can get through this if you relax." Twilight said soothingly, trying to calm Snake down.

"No YOU relax, I can't take it anymore with all you crazy ponies driving me nuts." Snake yelled. "I don't even think I have any of my sanity left in me to go on any farther."

By this point all of the ponies were shriveling in fear from Snakes ear piercing words.

"Snake, j-just s-s-stop." Seamus said weakly, using one of his wings to hide his face.

"Stop? STOP!" Snake hollered. "You dont get it, do you. Were never going get to the Ark, were never going to save Dusk, were never going to defeat Discord, AND WERE NEVER GOING TO SAVE OUR FUCKING WORLD AGAIN!" Snake said, loosing his temper. "So just face the facts and get over it. This is your new home. There is no way to fix it and there never will be a way to fix it." With that, Snake turned around and began trotting east.

"Where are you going?" Rainbow Dash asked, with fear in her voice.

"Trying to go find refugee in this hellhole." Snake responded. "It's pointless trying to save whats already doomed."

"Snake!" Twilight wanted to call out, but the green Pegasus was already gone.

"Come on Twilight, let's go." Thunder Ice said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "we've already lost enough time."

"I know, but I just can't face the fact that we will need him in the future." Twilight responded. "He carries something important within him, I can feel it."

And with that, the group was off into the Everfree forest, with Snake heading towards the opposing direction.

**This chapter actually gave me the most trouble of all the chapters I have written so far. Once I was halfway done with this chapter, by laptop had ran out of battery and I had forgot to save. This resulted in me having to start the whole chapter over. It was truly frustrating. Also, the song I used in this chapter was Disparity by Design by none other than Rise Against. At this point I think I should use the entire Endgame album before using any other kind of artist. Do you or do you not think I should use the entire album. Leave a reply in the reviews if you do or don't want me to. I don't know which chapter it will be but either the next chapter or the chapter after that will include a glimpse of how Dusk's life is in the Ark (hint: there will be a song). With that said, I am still looking for new OC's, new songs, and constructive criticism. I hope to see you all in my next update.**


	9. Chapter 8 Revelations

** I'm finally back again. Sadly, the NJ ASK is almost around the corner for me and, like I said before, I'm getting my laptop confiscated for the week of testing. Thus meaning I won't be able to update the story for the remainder of the week. Also, I have gone forth with putting the entire endgame album into this story, but not all at once. I will have songs placed here and their that will interfere with the order. Besides that, I have also decided to focus this chapter on the gang traveling through the Everfree forest. The next chapter will most likely focus on Dusk and life in the Ark. That will lead up to the big rescue, as well as stopping Discord. Now onto the story.**

Chapter 8 – Revelations (favorite word ever)

/watch?v=2LeVmAA3TuY

(copy and paste in a new tab on youtube)

"ugg, ah just can't stand this place, no matter how many times ahve been through it." Applejack complained. The gang was currently in none other that the dark jungle of the Everfree forest.

"Wow, I've heard stories of this place containing all sorts of creatures." Thunder Ice mentioned. "Some of them able to devour a pony whole."

"Y-yall must be j-joking about that." Applejack asked, a little scared by what Thunder Ice had just said.

"I don't know for sure." Thunder replied. "The books I've read about this place never mentioned if it was really true or not. In my opinion, I think the creatures are real."

All of a sudden, Seamus had just stepped on a branch, causing a loud crunching sound beneath him. This startled everypony as they thought they were being followed by one of the mystical creatures that lured in this forest.

"Even in the daytime, this place is dark as hay." Rainbow Dash said, walking along with the group. She had still kept her bet against Applejack on not flying through the Everfree forest, rather sticking with the group and trotting along with them.

The entire time Fluttershy kept to the back of the group. Thoughts of her and Dusk as kids flashed through her mind. She couldn't help but think about him the entire time. This was until a loud, ear piercing screech came from the deps of the forest.

"What was that?" Pinkie pie asked quickly, while still holding the unconscious Rarity on her back.

"I don't know." Twilight responded. "Come on, lets go check it out."

"Are yall crazy or some'in!" Applejack yelled. "When yall hear a loud sound comin from a deep dark place, ya don't just go ovar there and check it out"

"Come on, Applejack" Rainbow Dash said, nuzzling closer to Applejacks side. "Are you chicken." Rainbow soon began to impersonate a chicken by making chicken noises. "Bock bock bock."

"Come on, Twilight." Applejack said, slightly ticked off by Rainbow Dash. "She doesn't know what she's talkin bout."

"Hold on Applejack, I actually want to see where that sound came from." Twilight responded. "You never know what could be down there." And with that, Twilight was off, along with the rest of the gang, leaving Applejack and Fluttershy behind them.

"Don't worry, Applejack." Fluttershy said, trying to cheer up her southern friend. "We'll get through this. And believe me, we will find Dusk." Fluttershy began trotting by her. "I know so. I can feel it"

"Heh, yall might be right about this." Applejack said, a small smile emerging on her face as she began galloping over to the rest of the gang.

* * *

"Sometimes I don't know if my soul has been damned or God just plain hates me." Snake mumbled to himself as he began trotting towards Twilights library. As he reached the front steps of the library, he heard a loud shattering noise come from the upstairs of Twilights library. "Wait, didn't everypony leave Twilights library already, including Spike." HE said aloud. "Wait a minute, SPECTRUM!"

Snake began darting into Twilight's library and up the stairs to only be stopped by another voice in Twilights room.

"You know what your mission is, eh" An Australian style voice echoed through the room.

"Yeah, cause if you mess this up, the boss will take it out on us" A Spanish voice then added.

Snake was extremely tempted to take a peak at what was happening inside Twilights room, but didn't want to be detected. Being very advanced at the art of stealth, he made up his mind and decided to take a peak. Snake slowly leaned his head towards the door, with his body being implanted on the wall beside it, standing on his back two hooves. Snake could not understand what he was seeing, and yet didn't want to see it at all.

In the corner of Twilight's room sat Spectrum, his back turned to Snake. But what Snake did not understand was who he was talking to. On the floor, in front of Spectrum was a thin, metallic chip that produced a transparent, two-dimensional hologram in front of Spectrum. In the hologram were two earth pony like creatures, except they were messed up here and there. The one to the left had a bite mark around his left ear as well as a scar around his right eye. The one to the right had not only an eye-patch over his right eye, but also a small cut right between his nose and mouth.

All Spectrum did was nod his head to what the two earth ponies in the hologram said, not aware that Snake was right behind him, observing his every move.

Suddenly, a large, heavy sound ran through the air in the hologram. It took a while for Snake to realize that the two pony like creatures were actually in the middle of a battlefield and that a bomb had just gone off.

"Gotta go, Spectrum." The one with the Spanish voice said. "And remember, what ever you do, don't let anypony find out about your cover. If they do, our whole company will be in grave danger." He said before pushing a button below him, causing the hologram to evaporate into thin air, then to be sucked into the chip on the floor. Once the conversation was over, Spectrum reached his metallic hoof over to the chip and picked it up. He then placed it in an empty slot in which his chest should have been, blending in with his ruby red paint coating. Spectrum the slowly began turning around and trotting out of Twilights room.

"Shit!" Snake mumbled under his breath. He had to get out of there before Spectrum found him eavesdropping. Celestia knows what he would do if Spectrum found him. Without even thinking, Snake darted up against the wall and began climbing upwards.

As Spectrum left the room, he analyzed the area to see if anypony had been stalking him. After a brief moment of searching, he found nothing and resumed his morning duties for the day. Who knows when Twilight and the gang would come back.

Up above the entrance of Twilight room was none other that Snake, framed against the ceiling of the library, holding on for dear life trying not to slip or fall. The ceiling wasn't in the best condition at the time. Splinters were hanging out as well as some of the boards were tilted, making it nearly impossible for Snake to hold on any longer.

As Spectrum finished scanning the area and found that he was the only one in the library, he began trotting down the stairs. As Snake saw this, he let out a small, quiet sigh, relieved that Spectrum was leaving. Apparently, Spectrum was able to hear this and quickly turned his head around, expecting to see another pony in the room. Awkwardly, he did not see another pony in the room. It was empty except for him. Spectrum then realized that he must have been hearing things. He soon began resuming his walk down the stairs, keeping in mind that he needed a quick little tune-up for his hearing.

This whole time Snake was hidden on the opposing side of Twilights library, against the wall of the left side of the entrance. Realizing that Spectrum was gone already, Snake began searching Twilights room for a way out. Luckily, he spotted one of the windows in Twilights room that he could fit through. It was slightly damaged with a few cracks here and there from the massacre the other day. Knowing that Spectrum could come up to Twilights room at any minute, Snake opened the window quickly and dove right through it. Unfolding his wings, Snake began slowly descending towards the ground till his hooves were touching it,

"I've got to warn Twilight and the gang." Snake said to himself "Before it's too late." With that, Snake was off towards the Everfree forest , where he would soon tell the rest of the gang the tragic and shocking truth he had just experienced moments ago. How Spectrum was part of this, how he was the one really behind all of this misfortune.

**Quite sad how someone as loving and loyal as Spectrum could actually be so cruel and evil as to go against the gang this entire time. As always, I am still expecting new OC's as well as songs. I've already got some song requests as well as some OC's too. Speaking of music, the song used in this chapter was Lost Jungle theme from Sonic Heroes. This was my first instrumental piece and certainly won't be my last. You will often find me using Sonic songs through the story since they are so entertaining and add a lot of feeling. Sadly, the time has come to tell you the bad news. I am running low on chapters to post and if it comes to this, I will have to start updating every 2 days instead of one. With chapters as long as this, it takes a while to write them. With that said, I salute you as well as command you to review. I am also surprised on how many people have added not only this story to their favorites, but also me as an author to their favorites. I am widely impressed by that, truly. **


	10. Chapter 9 The First Fiend

** I'm back with another update. Ever since I've posted the story "Shadow Origins", I was having a hard time deciding which story I should update from time to time. So far, I have met a compromise. For every 3 chapters I post for this story, I will post one for "Shadow Origins". Reply if you think that is either a good or bad idea. I truly like both stories a lot, but this story will be A LOT longer that the other one. (I'm expecting this story to be around 100 chapters). With that said, lets begin.**

Chapter 9 – The First Fiend

"Celestia, this place is dark." Thunder Ice said in front of the group. Even though it was still bright outside, the mass array of trees blocked off every square inch of sunlight, making the entire forest unsee-able.

"I wish we still had Snake with us." Raymond spoke up. "His night vision would surely come in handy right about now."

"Don't even speak about that immature stallion." Twilight responded. "He backed out on us without any reason. If you ask me, he's a traitor."

Soon, another ear piercing shriek went off in the center of the Everfree forest, followed by a squishing sound.

"What was that!" Pinkie pie screamed, her head all the way up from being alarmed from the shriek.

"I don't know." Twilight answered. "But were close by, I can feel it. Come on, my little ponies, lets see what happened." Twilight then began galloping towards the sound of the impact, with the rest of the gang close behind. As they arrived, they could soon see again. Light from the sun had made its way through the trees and supplied the area in brightness. What the ponies saw in front of them was a sight that they could never forget.

In the center of the closing was none other than a rose pink earth pony with curly pink hair. But what shocked the gang the most was how she appeared. Her eyes open fully, looking into opposing directions. Her body laid flat onto the ground. And her insides scattered across the ground around her. A huge gash was crafted onto her right side, facing upward. Not only were the group of ponies shocked by this, but also disturbed. And even when the group thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. What seemed to be a Pegasus pony was on top of the deceased earth pony. His mouth was stuck inside the earth ponys wound, eating away at all of her internal and external organs. His appearance was a gray coat with a dark brown mane and tail. He had unnaturally long fangs as well as eagle wings instead of normal Pegasus wings. He was a bit larger and muscular than the average colt. His breath wreaked of death and despair. This shocked the gang of ponies. Thunder Ice tried to avert his eyes away while Pinkie Pie put a hoof in front of her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting.

Seamus gasped before saying to himself "Jakben". He had known this cruel and abominable creature from his young childhood. Nightmares of him haunted Seamus in his sleep and he never knew that today would be the faithful day that he would meet him again, face to face. All Seamus did was run to the back of the group and curled up into a ball, hoping that Jakben would nor recognize him.

After hearing the gasp from Seamus, Jakben slowly lifted his head out of the deceased pony and began looking at the gang in front of him. "Oh, where are my manners." He spoke up, with blood covering his facial area. "My name is Jakben. God of life, death, and all those other fairytale that you ponies believe in." He said, using his front hoof to wipe off the blood imprinted over his mouth.

Thunder Ice was the quickest to react and pulled out a butchers knife, using it to defend not only himself, but also the gang too. "What in the world of Equestria do you think your doing!" He yelled, using his magic to point the butchers knife directly towards Jakben. "Are you really that sick to feed off of your own kind?" Thunder Ice said, inching closer to the mad-pony

"Perhaps we haven't truly met." Jakben added. "I'm not what you ponys call normal. I am my own species. I am one of the rarest creatures to ever set hoof to this land. If you threaten to kill me right now, my entire species would go extinct. And by the way, it's not like you puny ponies could even lay a hoof on me." He replied. Thunder Ice became infuriated by this and began charging towards Jakben, levitating the butchers knife in front of him with his magic. He was then stopped as Twilight had jumped between Thunder Ice and Jakben.

"WAIT!" She shouted, blocking the two from engaging in battle. "You still haven't answered my question." She said, looking directly at Jakben. "What species are you?"

"That is classified." Jakben added, trotting closer towards Twilight. "For if anypony were to know who I really was, I'd be hunted down for the rest of my life." Jakben was now swirling around Twilight, observing every little speck and detail of her. "My, Ive never seen anypony with such perfect posture and appeal." He mentioned, his front hoof running down Twilights back. Twilight, at this point, was at an extremely uncomfortable point. But she read about mystical creatures, such as vampire ponies before. One false move, and she would have to pay the price, with her life. "You are a truly beautiful pony, if you haven't already realized that." Jakben spoke up, still examining Twilight. "You would make a perfect" Jakben licked his lips. "bride". His hoof extending down Twilights back. Lower and lower until...

"THATS IT!" Thunder Ice screamed, charging towards Jakben as fast as his hooves could allow him, using his magic to levitate the butchers knife in front of him. Fire blazed in his eyes as he began to close in on Jakben. All of a sudden, as Thunder Ice was inches away from him, Jakben disappeared in thin air. Thunder Ice began to brake before he collided into Twilight, who was nearly in front of him. "What, where did he go?" Thunder Ice asked while rubbing his eyes with his hooves, thinking that what had just happened was just an illusion.

"How misfortunate for such ignorant little fools thinking they can defeat a god at hoof." Jakbens voice echoed through the forest.

"Where are you, cunt." Thunder Ice demanded, letting his rage get the best of him. "Come on, stop being a coward and show yourself." He screamed, stomping his front hoof in the dirt in anger.

"Now why in Equestria would I do that when if I do, you'll just attempt to try and kill me again."Suddenly, Jakben appeared on the branch of a tree high up in the sky.

"H-how did you d-do that?" Thunder Ice was taken aback. He had no clue that anypony could just disappear instantly and just reappear in another place.

"It's called black magic." Jakben shot back. "The most advanced technology in all of Equestria, and I'm the only one who knows how to not only use it, but also to make it obey me and my every command." With that, Jakben disappeared again in thin air. "Good luck on your journey, your going to need it." Jakben said as he laughed menacingly afterward. All that remained was the confused gang as well as the deceased pony that lay on the ground.

As Thunder Ice turned around to face the group, he was stunned at what happened next. Twilight had wrapped her front hooves around him as she buried he head into Thunder Ice's neck. "Thank you" was all she had said as she began crying into his neck. A large blush made its way towards Thunders cheeks, showing true embarrassment.

"Shhh, it's all right, he's gone now." Thunder Ice said in a loving, comforting voice while hugging Twilight back, stroking her mane with his right hoof.

"No, it isn't" Twilight refused. "If it wasn't for you, I could've died right here and now. Celestia knows what he would do to me if you hadn't scared him away." She said, before sobbing uncontrollably. Thunder Ice was feeling guilty by now. He had hated to see Twilight in this state.

"Your missing the point Twi." Thunder Ice replied, bringing forth her nickname one again. "He could've killed you if it wasn't for me. Stop playing with the past and get along with the future. That was before and this is now." He said, letting go of Twilight. "Now, we have a job to do." Thunder said, trying to change the subject.

"Heh" Twilight chuckled before using her hoof to wipe away the tears in her eye. "I guess your right." She said, taking control of the gang again. "Now come on, lets go" She yelled, leading the group towards the Arks shuttle launcher. They were already close enough to see the shuttle launcher, meaning that they weren't that far away. As they began trotting towards it, a shouting sound emanated from behind them.

"STOP!" A familiar sound shouted from behind the group. The gang began to turn around to see where the sounds were coming from to see a green Pegasus dashing towards them.

"Snake?" Pinkie asked.

"Guys." He said before landing onto the ground with his front hooves. "I have something extremely important to tell you." He said, painting heavily from flying such a long distance. "but I won't guarantee you will like it."

**I'm now done with the 9****th**** chapter. *celebrates*. I can't believe it only took me a week to write this many chapters. This is extremely impressing even for me. I am still looking for new character OC's as well as songs to use in my story (if I haven't already mentioned before). Also, the character, Jakben, was from the story Venus Rising by DWhay, along with Seamus too. Here's a little thing that I haven't tried before. I want to know which character (doesn't matter if it it the mane 6 or the new characters) do you like best and you want to see more of. My favorites are Rainbow Dash as well as Shadow. Sadly, Shadow still hasn't been introduced and probably wont be introduced for the next 3-5 chapters. With that said, I command you to review or become devoured by the evil spirit of life and death. :D**


	11. Chapter 10 A New Friend For Pinkie

** I'm back with another update of this story. Sadly, I'm not feeling so good. On the news the other day I heard about this guy killing a few women and using their flesh to make pastries and selling them to the town. The first thing that popped into my mind, CUPCAKES. For all you bronies and pegasisters who've seen Srgnt Sprinkles version of cupcakes, you'll know what I'm talking about. Now, on with the story.**

Chapter 10 – A New Friend For Pinkie

"HE WHAT?" Pinkie screamed.

"I'm telling you, this is the honest truth." Snake replied. He had just finished telling the gang about what he had observed in Twilights library. How Spectrum was part of this.

"So, what should we do now?" Rainbow asked. "Should we continue on and go save Dusk, or should we confront Spectrum until he spills the beans about what's really going on."

"It's too late to do that now." Thunder barked, "We're already here." He said, while extending a hoof towards the sight in front of him. The shuttle launcher heading towards the Ark was laid in front of the entire group to see. No longer were they in the Everfree forest anymore, but in a grassy field filled with plants and animals. All the gang could do was gasp as they began to look up on how long the shuttle launcher really was. It extended to a point to where nopony could see any further. The sun began to slowly set in the distance, implying that night fall would soon cover the land.

"Lets hurry up while we still can." Twilight mentioned. "We don't have much time." As the group began galloping towards the shuttle launcher, they were puzzled on how it truly worked. A large glass tube surrounded the area and in the center was something that resembled to a particle cannon.

"What the fudge?" Pinkie said aloud, causing everypony to look at her with a blank expression. "How does this contraption even work?"

"Fluttershy" Twilight screamed, searching around the group for Fluttershy. "How are we supposed to use this thing?" She asked, locating Fluttershy in the back.

"Here," She said in a calm, yet serious voice. "Let me go first." Nopony had ever seen Fluttershy be so brave and courageous before. She was often known for going last at everything, but this time she volunteered to go first.

Fluttershy had opened the clear glass door blocking her from the shuttle launcher. After being stuck inside, she made her way towards the particle cannon in the center of the small dome. Just by stepping over the beam with her front hoof, she was instantly gone. Gasps were soon heard from the gang as the watched Fluttershy disappear in the blink of an eye.

"W-what h-happened?" Applejack questioned. "W-where did she go?"

"I don't know." Twilight responded. "This doesn't make any sense. Whoever built this transporter must have really gone overboard."

"Well, you guys know what we have to do." Snake added. With that, he dove through the door leading towards the cannon, and soon was gone. The rest of the group soon began to follow. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, Thunder Ice, Raymond, till Pinkie Pie was the last one left. She had no clue what was going on and didn't want to risk instant death by being teleported by the shuttle launcher. She also didn't want to be known as a chicken by the rest of her friends so she did what her heart told her to do. She charged. As Pinkie approached the shuttle launcher, she soon realized that she was also carrying the unconscious Rarity on her back. She didn't know if the teleporter worked for more than one pony at a time, but it was too late to turn back. Once Pinkie Pie had reached the teleporter, everything had gone black. It seemed to her that time and space had just suddenly stopped for her.

Suddenly, her vision had just came back. It slowly began to clear up and come into focus. As she looked around, she saw that she was alone, all by herself. Pinkie had found that she was in a metallic hallway filled with corridors around every corner. No windows could be found anywhere. She began to question herself if she was really on the Ark right now. It soon hit her that she was alone. None of her friends were with her. She then began to think that they got dropped off at different sections of the Ark. This began to scare Pinkie. Fluttershy had told them before that the Ark was one hay of a massive place. Even the guards who lived there sometimes got lost in the endless hallways. She wondered if she could ever make it out alive or even find any of her friends at the moment. Soon, the sound of hoofsteps trotting down the hallway rang in Pinkies ear. The sound began getting louder and louder, informing Pinkie Pie that one of the guards was coming her way. She knew she had to get out of there, before they found her, before it was too late. Pinkie had done the first thing that had came to mind, she galloped silently in the opposing direction, avoiding the security guard closing in on her. No matter how fast she ran, the guard chasing after her had been faster than her. She had decided to take a look behind her to see if she had known the pony chasing her but it was pointless. There was barely enough light in the Ark to see anything. Son enough, Pinkie Pie had felt a hard surface collide in with her body. She had just came face first into a wall. As she turned around, she began to shrivel against the wall, knowing that she was in a dead end and there was no escape.

"NO, PLEASE!" She screamed. "HAVE MERCY ON ME!" Pinkie Pie began to cry, knowing that she would either be killed or taken in as a prisoner, both ways being terrible for Pinkie. Suddenly, the darkness in the room cleared up as a flashlight was suddenly turned on. Pinkie had to squeeze her eyes in order to adapt to the sudden change in lighting. When she could see again, what stood in front of her was a white Pegasus in a guard suit with roughly messed up electric blue and dark gray mane and tail. What shocked Pinkie the most was that his eye color was different for each of his eyes. While one of his eyes were blue, the other happened to be gray.

"Need a hand." The Pegasus guard said, sticking out his front hoof towards Pinkie. Pinkie Pie was taken aback by this. The last time she recalled, she was told that the guards were extremely dangerous and not to be trusted. But here she was, a guard trying to help her up.

"Umm, thanks." Pinkie Pie responded, he usual cheery voice turning to something calm and gleeful. Pinkie Pie then took the guards hoof with her own, who quickly hoisted her up onto all four. "This might be a little out of the ordinary, but who the hay are you?" Pinkie Pie asked, showing confusion in her eyes.

"Oh, so sorry for not introducing myself earlier." The guard said playfully, trying to act royal and sophisticated. "I'm Lightning Flash, but you can call me Lightning for short." Lightning said, while pointing a hoof towards himself.

"Hmm, Lightning Flash." Pinkie said aloud, testing the name. "Lightning Flaaash, Lightneeeng Floosh. Liiiightniii."

"That's enough, Lightning said, covering Pinkies mouth. "You don't want to draw too much attention."

"Why?" Pinkie asked. "Aren't you friends with the other guards around here?"

"Actually, I'm a prisoner of this place." Lightning replied. "I just stole this outfit from another guard so I could make my way out of this death trap."

"Ohh, wait, you're a prisoner." Pinkie Pie said aloud, hoping around her new acquaintance. "That's so cool. You must have so many skills and powers if your able to escape this place. I mean really, a ton of ponies said escaping the Ark is impossible, but not for you, that is. You must be like a ninja or assassin or something if you can do that. I wish I could be a ninja or assassin just like you so that I could…" Pinkie was soon cut off as Lightning Flash wrapped a hoof around her entire mouth.

"Shut Up!" He screamed softly. "If they find us, then well both be doomed, and who knows what will happen from there." Soon, the sound of hoofsteps began echoing down the end of the hallway., followed by the shadows of other ponies.

"Son of a" was all Lightning could say before he began galloping towards the steel door to the left of them. As they made it inside the room, Lightning quickly turned around and locked all the locks implanted onto the door. He then slid down against the door in stress, still holding Pinkies mouth with his hoof, preventing her from making any sorts of sounds. Lightning Flash soon began to admit his surroundings. Even though he was right next to the most annoying earth pony in the entire world of Equestria, she kind of looked cute. Her curly mane and tail had a scent of pink bubblegum and berries, while the rest of her body smelled of sugars and sweets. All of a sudden, noises coming from outside the door were made.

"Hey, look at this." A masculine voice said, picking up something from the floor.

"What is it?" Another voice said, asking the other pony.

"Whadda ya think it is?" He screamed at him, holding up the item towards the other guards face. "It's a flashlight."

"Damn it." Lightning Flash silently cursed under his breath, hoping Pinkie did not hear that. He had forgotten his flashlight outside of the room. Without it, it was nearly impossible to see around the Ark.

"Hmm, somepony must be around here." the other guard said. "Spead out and find him." He said, taking control.

"Since when do I follow orders from a dumbass like you?" The other guard mentioned, turning around and walking in the direction from where he came from. "Heh, doesn't even know what a flashlight is." He said aloud.

"Hey!" The other guard yelled, "I heard that, he said, trotting over towards the other guard in the distance. The voices of the two guards arguing back and forth began to get lower and lower till they couldn't be heard anymore. Once the voices were gone, Lightning began sighing in relief. He then took his hoof away from Pinkies mouth, signaling that the guards were gone. Once he did so, he soon noticed a string of saliva connect from his own hoof towards Pinkies mouth. It took him a while to realize that she had been sucking on the side of his hoof the entire time. Pinkie then tried to cut the string of saliva connecting the two before things got worse, a slight blush spreading across her face as she did so. Meanwhile, Lightning tried to scrape the saliva imprinted onto his hand across the walls of the room. Once they were done and everything was cleared, Lightning Flash moved on to further business.

'Well, let's move along, shall we." He said while getting up. "Need a hoof?" Lightning asked before giving a hoof to Pinkie who gladly accepted it. "Now, let's see where we are." As Lightning reached for the lights switch to the room, Pinkie Pie began feeling strange things in her stomach, things that she could not yet understand. Butterflies mixed all around her stomach as if she were about to sing to a crowd of millions of ponies. She didn't know why but something about Lightning got under her skin, and she liked it. Once Lightning had reached for the lights switch, the light automatically came on. The room was instantly flooded with light as everything soon became clear to the two ponies. What could be seen in the room was tons of different test tubes and beakers filled with multiple kinds of liquids. Flamethrowers and Bunsen burners lay on the tables and desks of the area. Tubes and wires swirled around the room, carrying different substances in them. Lightning right then knew where they were.

"What is this place?" Pinkie asked confused.

"It's one of the many science labs found on the Ark." Lightning Flash replied. "If I had a nickel for every lab built into this hellhole." Lightning began trotting down the science lab for a while before turning around and realizing Pinkie wasn't following her. "Do I have to escort you around for everything?" Asked Lightning Flash sarcastically.

"Only if you want to." Pinkie Pie passed by Lightning with pride, keeping her posture up and eyes closed, looking sophisticated.

"Hey, wait up!" Lightning shouted before catching up to Pinkie. "By the way, "He said, painting hardly. "What's your name."

"Pinkie Pie." She said in her usual cheery voice. "But you can call me Pinkie Pie."

"Well Pinkie Pie" Lightning continued as he and Pinkie trotted down the long science lab. "I've been meaning to ask how in Equestria did you manage to get onto the Ark?"

"Oh, that brings be back." Pinkie Pie answered. "All the way back to the beginning."

**I finally finished the 10****th**** chapter of the story. And as you can see, this is probably my longest chapter that I've written so far. It took me about an hour and a half to type this entire thing up. I am still looking for new OC's as well as new songs for this fanfiction. Sadly, not many people have been giving me new song requests. All I'm getting are new OC's, too many actually. Speaking of OC's, the OC, Lightning Flash in this chapter was made by the author Lightning Flash (How ironic). His stories are truly exceptional and his OC has also been features in the 7****th**** element story as an antagonist, but I flopped him around as a good guy. Don't worry though, lots more enemies will soon appear in future chapters. Also, now I will be taking enemy OC's too. The necessarily don't have to be ponies, l they can be zombies or vampires or maybe even robots for all I care. Juts be creative and give me the name as well as what type of monster they are so I can use them in my future chapters. Sadly, some bad news had unfortunate came up. My laptop has stopped working temporarily and I don't know if it's officially broken. I think it's because of the random heat waves that keep on hitting us or that it's just too old to be working anymore. Anyway, If the laptop doesn't come through, then I will have to start updating every other day. Not that big of a deal, but I have to share the family laptop and desktop from time to time. If you haven't already noticed, Pinkie has finally met a new acquaintance right now. What will stir between the two. Find out in the next few chapters**

** Also, before you go, I also want to know what my next few chapters will be on. The next few chapters will each focus on a different pony and what section of the Ark they got transported to, as well as how they get out. I don't know the order of characters I'm going to do it in, so I want you, the audience, to tell me what order I should do it in. All I know is that Fluttershy will be the last pony I do a chapter on before they find Dusk in the Ark. Until next time, review and reply to all the questions I have aksed you right now.**


	12. Chapter 11 The Weapon of The Century

**I'm finally back with another update. Sadly, my laptop hasn't came through yet and is still broken. This next chapter will focus on Snake in the Ark, chosen by none other than Timefather 64. With that, let us begin.**

Chapter 11 – The Weapon of The Century

"Uggg, my head." Snake said to himself wearily, rubbing his forehead with his front hoof. As he began to open his eyes, he found himself to be the only one in the entire area around him. "Am I in the Ark?" He asked himself. Snake then began to get up on all fours an look at his surroundings. He had found that he was in one of the many hallways in the Ark. To his left was a stainless steel wall with countless doors implanted onto them. To his right were windows slanted outward, showing the darkness of space outside of him. Just by that, Snake knew that he was in the Ark. "Heh." He mumbled to himself. "When Fluttershy said this place was gonna be enormous, she wasn't taking shit." The green Pegasus had no clue what to do next since he was separated from the rest of his group, so he began exploring the space prison, keeping a tight grip on his weapon in case of any sudden danger. As he began to walk down the lengthy corridor, he stooped in his tracks to see what was a metallic vault in front of him. "Seriously, poinies said trying to find your way through the Ark was impossible, and yet I've only been here for 30 buckin' seconds and I've already found where they store the prison's valuables." Snake said aloud. Afterwards, he began galloping towards the vault before anypony could see him. Once there, he then stood on his back two hooves and placed his back and head against the wall, a few inches to the left from the vault. Snake then put his ear towards the combo as he began spinning the lock both left and right, making it land on random numbers. When just a little colt, his parents had sent him to military school to build up characteristics and bravery, where he learned to fight and defend. He even learned a few tricks like how to pick luck by just using your ear and hoof.

All of a sudden, a click noise went off from the other side of the door, causing the door to open automatically. As the vault door opened, Snake began trotting into the room, expecting to see a bunch of bits and trophies and golden statues, but all he saw was a longer hallway leading to another vault on the opposite side of the hallway. "What kind a trick is this?" A furious yet confused Snake asked himself. As he began trotting towards the other side of the hallway, a thin red laser made its way onto Snakes neck, revealing a small red dot.

/watch?v=Mp2sR4DzkTQ

(copy and paste in a new tab on youtbe)

Suddenly, the laser turned yellow, triggering the rest of the lasers in front of him to become activated. The red alarm implanted onto the high corner of the wall suddenly went off as it began glowing bright red, followed by the loud shriek of an alarm.

"What the.." Snake said as he soon realized that he had just stepped hoof first into one of the Ark's many traps. Suddenly, guards of all shapes and sizes began charging towards him, each of them carrying some sort of weapons and high tech armor.

"Motherbucker." Snake cursed towards himself. As the guards began to close in on him, Snake did the first thing that came to mind. He leaped into the air above the guards and expanded his wings, allowing him to fly and soar through the air. The guards soon became confused as their main target had just disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"W-where did he go?" A scared security guard asked. "WHERE DID THAT BASTARD GO?" All of a sudden, as if on cue, the security guard to the back of the group had fell to the floor unconscious, a large bump formed onto his head. As the rest of the guards turned to see where the sound came from, they located the unconscious soldier as well as Snake attached to the wall, wings expanded, holding a frying pan by the handle in his mouth.

"After him!" Another guard demanded, extending a hoof in the direction of Snake. Soon, the rest of the guards began charging towards him. The only option left for Snake now was to maneuver his way out. Using the wall as a jump start, he flung off the wall and glided through the air, avoiding all the guards charging towards him in the process. Having perfect speed and agility, Snake was able to doge not only the guards themselves, but also their attacks too. As Snake made his way to the other side of the hallway, he quickly began climbing upwards. The guards had realized what Snake was trying to do, so they began to huddle up in case the intruder decided to do anything funny. To their surprise, he did, and was successful doing so. As he made his way to the roof of the hallway, Snake quickly looked below him to make sure he was right above the guards. Foolish enough for him, the guards didn't know where he was at the time, making it easier for Snake to knock them all out. Snake began charging up all his energy. His hoofs bending downward towards the ceiling. His wings slowly flapping to the breeze. Once ready, Snake launched himself as hard as he could towards the guards. When eye level with them, Snake quickly began circling the group, leaving the guards in a green tornado created by none other than Snake.

"W-what the" One of the guards said aloud. As Snake zoomed around the group faster and faster, a loud crashing sound could be heard, followed by a thumping noise. Another guard had just bitten the dust. The sound continued as one by one each guard began falling to the floor. Snake had been speeding around, whacking each of the guards with his frying pan, knocking them out. This continued until there was only one guard left. The guard began to slowly back away in fear. Snake suddenly stopped the green tornado he had created and flew upwards till he was right above the guard.

"Here's a little tip whenever you engage in combat with any other pony." Snake said to the last guard standing. "Never mess with Snake." With that, Snake closed in on the last guard and shoved the pan onto his head, literally cracking his skull wide open, ending his life.

Once Snake had reached the ground on all four, with his head turned down in a somewhat epic fashion, he began to get up and dust himself off as if he had slid to home base in baseball. Once done, he then turned around to see all the damage he had committed in his first few minutes of the Ark. "What fool would even think of going up against the all mighty and humble Snake." He said before making a beeline towards the end of the hallway, where the other unopened vault laid. Snake had done the same exact maneuver as he did before to open the previous lock. After opening, Snake had stepped inside the vault, only to be taken aback at what he saw.

The walls were covered with all different sorts of guns on them. Ak47s, machine guns, hand guns, shot guns. You name it, they had it. Scattered on the ground were all different sorts of ammo and explosives. There was even a tank already previously loaded with a missile sitting in the corner. Everything Snake had ever loved and wished to have was standing right in front of him. Then, a fatal question soon hit him. What would he carry with him and what would he leave behind. The question sting in his head harder than a queen bee. Snake wanted the most heaviest damage making equipment, without going overboard in weight.

Snake began trotting around the room slowly, closely examining the weapons one by one. He wanted to make sure the weapons were good enough for him personally to handle. Picking the right weapon wasn't like picking out a flavor of ice cream in an ice cream in an ice cream shop. It was much more advanced. You have to look for preciseness as well as accuracy and distance, not to mention its power and ability to reload. While trotting around the room, looking for the right weapon, Snake wasn't looking in front of him as to where he was going, and as a result hit the glass was in front of him, or that's what he thought. It was actually a glass case that he had ran into. Snake collapse over himself and fell to the floor. As he rubbed his head and began to look up, he was stunned by what he saw in front of him. Inside the glass case was the perfect weapon. The weapon that would destroy this entire base. The weapon stat would show them all what he was truly made of. Reaching for the weapon in the container, he soon realized that the only thing separating him from the weapon was the glass in between the two. Quickly, Snake began looking for something to smash the glass with, but was dumbfounded when he realized that he could have used the frying pan gripped onto his back. Taking control of the pan with his mouth, Snake made one quick swing with the frying pan, shattering the glass in front of him, sending tons of glass shards airborne towards Snake. Using his quick wits, snake averted every single shard without taking the slightest bit of damage. Once regaining balance again, Snake dropped the frying pan out of his mouth and began making his way to the already broken case. After approaching it, he carefully lifted his head into the case, avoiding all the leftover shards stuck to the glass around the case. Snake gently bit the strap of the weapon and carefully pulled it back out, trying as hard as possible not to drop it. Once he got it out of the case, Snake began examining the weapon closely, looking at its fine crafting and sentimental details. "Hell yeah." Snake said to himself, putting on the strap to the weapon. Apparently, the weapon had been painted gold over it, giving it a nice shiny finish. "This will show them who's the real boss around here." Snake began testing the weapon by practicing aiming with it. He then realized that he had no ammo for the weapon. As if meant to happen, the back of the case of where the weapon used to be began to shine brightly. Snake then began to turn towards the brightness, squinting hardly, trying not to go blind. The brightness soon disappeared and a note had took its place. The note read.

_**Directions for using the Golden Ray:**_

_**Always use precaution when handling machinery**_

_**Never dent or break the weapon**_

_**Never block the out port of the weapon**_

_**Always wear strap when in use**_

_**This machine comes with the auto load feature. Never again will you have to reload or even think about carrying separate ammo. This mystical device always generates new ammo inside of itself, letting you use the rapid fire feature.**_

All the way at the bottom of the note read some text that not even Snake could decode.

_**Always make sure that with no costs, you never … The result of this will cause the fate of this machine to be uncontrollable having a mind of its own.**_

"What!" Snake said to himself. Apparently the rest of the words of the note had been either cut of or burned off. Snake had no idea whether he should have taken the weapon or just chose a different weapon, but it was already too late. More guards began running down the hallway form the other end, alarming Snake. "Well, time to bail." Snake said to himself, taking off in the opposite direction, carrying the golden ray with him. "These guards never learn their lesson, do they?" And Snake was off.

**Finished with another chapter. This entire chapter was mainly a type of battle scene, and won't be the last one of it. There will be many more in the future too, if I can get enough different types of enemies. I am still looking for new OC's and songs as well as new enemies previously mentioned before. Speaking of songs, the song used at the beginning of this chapter was the Stardust Speedway theme from when you fight Metal Sonic in Sonic Generations (Bad Future is the title of the song). You will actually find me adding a ton of Sonic songs in this fanfic since they are very lively and go well with this story. Also, as mentioned before, I want to know what character I should do next. I'm beginning to think I should do Twilight next, but I'm not completely sure. I want to know what you guys want the next chapter to be about. With that said, I enforce you to review or get your head blown off by the golden ray. Ha.**


	13. Chapter 12 The Mysterious Thief

**I'm back with another outstanding update. This chapter will mainly focus on Twilight in the Ark. Also, let me say that I don't have any song recommendations yet, meaning that I'll have to pick all the songs for this fanfic, which will make it boring. Also, kudos to DWhay for being the first to understand what I'm really going for here. But let me tell you that what you think is really only part of this story. I'm planning for this story to be around 100 to maybe even more chapters, meaning this will be one hay of a story. Now, on to the story.**

Chapter 12 – The Mysterious Thief

Drip, drip, drip. The sound of water droplets hitting the floor spread through the room.

"Uggh, what's going on?" Twilight asked while rubbing her horn. She slowly opened her eyes to find that she was staring into complete darkness. A heavy headache had reached her head and she felt like all the blood was rushing towards her head. She could feel cold metal clasps extend around her back two hoofs, while her front two hoofs were free, able to do what they pleased. It took Twilight a while to soon realize what was going on. She was hanging upside down against a wall. That pretty much explained to her why she had such an awkward tingle inside her body.

All of a sudden, the door to the far right corner of the room slowly opened, making a loud squeaking sound. Light flooded part of the room as a mysterious pony zoomed trough the doorway, letting the door close on itself, concealing the room in total darkness.

"H-hello?" Twilight asked with fear in her voice. She had no clue what was happening at the moment. Whether the other pony in the room was a friend or foe. Twilight soon heard the sound of hoofsteps slowly and gently approach her. Twilight began to freak out, not expecting what would happen next.

"W-what are y-you d-doing?" Twilight couldn't even say a full sentence at this point without stuttering. Fear of the other pony had consumed her entire body. As the other pony had neared Twilight, he stopped right in front of her. They were both nose to nose, even though Twilight was upside down and the other pony was straight on the ground. Twilights fearful breathing was heavy by now, making the opposing pony be able to feel her hot breath on his neck. Like before, it was too dark for Twilight to see anything, meaning Twilight couldn't see the pony in front of him, even though he was right next to her. What happened next was something Twilight never had wished happened. Their lips met. Twilight tried as hard as possible to pull away, but all her efforts were futile. The pony's grip on Twilight was impossible to break. His lips were for some reason as smooth as soap. His mouth had a tangy taste to it, much like tangerines. Once Twilight had realized it had been pointless to try and break free, she did what she would have never expected to do. She slowly began to close her eyes, enjoying the kiss between the pony and herself. All of a sudden, the mysterious pony had broken free of Twilight, leaving a very exhausted Twilight behind him. When Twilight realized the kiss had been broken, she resumed to her normal state before all of this. Twilight began screaming uncontrollably, trying to get the attention of anypony nearby to rescue her. Suddenly, a slashing sound went off, causing Twilight to fall to the floor onto her head.

"OWW!" She said aloud, rubbing her head violently from the impact. It took her a while to realize that the mysterious pony that had just kissed her earlier had used his wings to slash the chains restraining Twilight in order to free her. As Twilight was about to say thanks, light suddenly began flooding the room. Apparently the light switch had been turned on. Twilight had quickly began looking around the room to see who really the mysterious pony was, but all she saw was his cutie mark as he quickly dashed out of the door in which he came from. It happened to be 3 flame red fire bursts, meaning his special talent had something to do with fire.

"Twilight!" A familiar voice bursted across the other side of the room. Twilight quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice to see none other than Thunder Ice charging towards her.

"Thunder!" Twilight shouted. In her mind, Twilight was thinking 'oh boy. How in the world of Equestria am I going to tell him what had just happened'. As Twilight got up, she was then again tacked to the ground by Thunder, who embraced her with a tight hug, nearly crushing her back.

"I missed you so much" Thunder whispered in Twilights ear while stroking her mane. "I thought I'd never find you." Soon, Thunder began to release Twilight, only to find something had gone wrong with her. "Dear Celestia!" He shouted. "What happened to your horn!" Twilight the asked "What are you talking about? My horns right.." Twilight then reached up to her forehead, expecting to feel what should have been her horn, only to find that her horn was gone, and that a gash trickling out blood laid on her forehead. Twilight soon began panicking. It then took her a while to realize that when the mysterious pony had cut the chains on her back hoofs and dropped her on her head, her horn must have snapped off.

"W-where's my horn?" Twilight screamed. "WHERE'S MY HORN!" Twilight began to hyperventilating, her stomach swelling in and out in the process. All Thunder did was just stared at Twilight in shock and confusion. "Don't just stand there!" Twilight shouted at Thunder Ice. "Help me!"

"O-ok." Thunder Ice snapped out of it. "Just keep a stable amount of pressure on the area in the meantime." Twilight wasn't one to question Thunders ability, so she began to do as followed. While Twilight was doing this, Thunder Ice began searching around the stone room in search of a purple horn. After a while of searching, Thunder Ice noticed a purple horn near the wall of the room below some shattered chains. The horn had a puddle of blood, which Thunder assumed was from Twilight, around the horn, as well as some of the marrow of the horn sticking out. "Found it!" Thunder Ice yelled from across the room, warning Twilight of his findings.

"Bring it over here, quickly!" Was Twilights only response. Thunder Ice used his magic to lift Twilights already broken unicorn horn and began trotting towards Twilight. Once arriving at Twilight, Thunder Ice levitated the horn towards the gash in Twilights forehead, pushing it in place. For some reason, the horn wouldn't stay put and kept on sliding off. "Why won't it stay on!" Twilight yelled in frustration.

"I think I know why." Thunder responded while gulping loud enough for Twilight to hear. With that, Thunder Ice released the magical grip on Twilights horn and levitated the butcher's knife out of his saddle. He then placed it near the side of his body and slowly began cutting away at a small chunk of his own hide. The pain he felt was too much to bear, but it was better to him that to see Twilight in the state she was already in. He would rather take the pain for her than Twilight taking it for herself. Once he was done scraping of a small section of his hide with the butchers knife, he then lifted the already separated hide from his own body, leaving an extremely bloody patch on his right side of his body. This entire time Twilight had been watching and was shocked at what she saw. She was truly heartbroken. Thunder Ice then used the rest of his magic to lift Twilights broken horn from the ground and placed in on the gash on her forehead, then used the previously cut-off hide of his own to wrap it around the horn. The stickiness of the inside of the hide joining the horn with the skin of Twilights forehead. As Thunder Ice was finished on repairing Twilight, he soon began feeling pain in his back. He began opening his eyes to see Twilight had tackled him to the ground and was on top of him. Thunder Ice's hoofs were all spread out and were being restrained by Twilights own hooves. There was a moment of silence as the two looked into each other's eyes. The one thing that Thunder Ice loved the most about Twilight was her eyes. They showed a mass array of feeling and emotion in them, literally stunning Thunder Ice in place. Then, all of a sudden, Twilight began doing the unthinkable. He slowly leaned in, and both their lips met. Twilight felt out of place by this sudden reaction, but eventually began playing along. Guilt soon ran through her body as she was reminded of being forced to kiss that mysterious pony before, and liking it. This, for some particular reason, had a different feeling to it. Soon, Thunder Ice decided to start playing around with Twilight. Thunder began pushing his tongue towards Twilights mouth, who gladly accepted him. Twilight began moaning into the stallion's mouth. Once his hoofs had gotten freed, he began hugging Twilight tightly, as if it was an urge he couldn't seem to control. Thunder began running his hoofs down Twilights back, sending goose bumps down the purple mare. All of a sudden, Twilight couldn't control herself anymore and broke the kiss. The two began to paint heavily. It had been an entire two minutes that had passed. Time flies when you're having fun. Knowing that what she was doing was wrong and that her body wasn't ready for what would come next, she quickly began to change the subject.

"So, how were you able to find me in the first place?" Twilight asked still laid on top of Thunder Ice.

"Oh, hehe." Thunder Ice chuckled. "That brings me back. I awoke to find myself in this mysterious room filled with a bunch of white cushions. I felt like I was at one of those crazy mental prisons. Then, I heard the sound of screaming. It seemed so familiar, so I raced out of the room I was in and followed the screams. I kept following them till I found you in this room. Not much to say really. But before anything else, I saw another pony leave the room once I had turned on the light. Do you have any clue as to who that pony was?" Thunder Ice asked.

"Oh, he's nopony." Twilight responded nervously. With that, she leaned in again and kissed Thunder lovingly again. Twilight knew that one day Thunder Ice would find out who that pony was and what really happened, but until that day, they had to focus on rescuing Dusk.

**Done with chapter 12. I know this chapter is kind of short, but you can't forget that I'm updating this story every day. It actually takes more that an hour to type up a chapter this long and it can get really frustrating. I am still looking for new OC's and new songs to put into my story. Speaking of OC's, the mysterious pony at the beginning of the chapter is another one of my OC and the sad part is, he doesn't have a name yet. I would be very happy is you could be so kind as to give me an exceptional name for the pony. Also, I want to know what the next chapter should focus on. I'm thinking on doing it on Raymond, but I'm not too sure yet. This chapter wasn't just on Twilight, but was also on Thunder Ice too if you haven't realized yet. With that said, I command you to review or I will chop off your horn (don't ask me how that's possible).**


	14. Chapter 13 The Soul of A Demon

**Hello there, and back with another update. I know, I know, the last chapter was kind of wacky and a bit out of place, but that was only because I was feeling lazy the other day. I've also decided to do the chapters by male and female, meaning that it will switch genders each chapter. Right now, I've already done Pinkie, Snake, Twilight, and Thunder Ice. My plans for the next chapter are likely to be Raymond, Applejack, Seamus, Rarity (she's now conscious again), Rainbow Dash, and finally leading up to Fluttershy before the big rescue. If you want I can change the order, but all I know for now is that Rainbow Dash will be second to last and Fluttershy will definitely be the last one up. This chapter will currently be on Raymond and how he survives on the Ark. Let's see how "cool" he can really be on a deadly place like this.**

Chapter 13 – The Soul of a Demon

Raymond began to moan aloud, his eyes soon opening afterwards. His entire body had been laid out onto the floor. As he opened his eyes and regained consciousness, he began to see something in front of him. A light green filly with pure white eyes began trotting towards Raymond. What shocked Raymond was that her eyes had been glowing as if a flashlight was inside her head and that she had no pupils. As the filly began inching closer to Raymond, who was still spread out across the floor, Raymond noticed that the filly had been walking as if she was drunk. She began tilting to the right side, and then the left. For some reason, the filly couldn't seem to keep her balance.

"What the..?" Was Raymond's only reply. As the pony inched her way forward, Raymond could soon see what she was holding in her mouth. It was an injection needle filled with some sort of poison. For some odd reason, Raymond was too dizzy to say anything, regardless to say, he couldn't even get up. All his muscled ached as his body reused to move. He kept on thinking the sight in front of his mas an illusion or some kind of twisted nightmare that he could just snap out of, but it wasn't. It was a hundred percent real, and Raymond couldn't believe one bit of it.

Just as the filly neared Raymond, an alarm had gone off, causing the entire area to be filled with a strong flashing red light, as well as the ear piercing sound of an alarm. All different types of guards rushed past the hallway that Raymond and the filly were in order to get to their destination. Apparently, a green Pegasus had just tried breaking into the weapons facility. (read chapter 11 if you haven't already) Just as the alarm had gone off, the green filly just inches away from Raymond with the needle began darting off in the opposing direction.

"Wait…what?" A very confused Raymond asked himself. He did not know why the green filly had fled so fast, as so much as to where she was headed toward. Although his body refused to get up, he began forcing himself to. Every single inch of his body ached at a tremendous rate, but Raymond began powering through it. Once he was up on all four, he began galloping towards the direction the green filly was headed in.

/watch?v=IJIq7_8IhLw

(copy and paste in a new tab on youtube)

As Raymond darted down the long halls of the Ark, he had to stop here and there for the passing guards. Shockingly, they didn't care about his presence, rather the green stallion trying to break into the weapons facility. As Raymond began following the filly trough the long, twisted halls of the Ark, the area began to get darker. Less and less lighting was provided for the area until the area had become drowned in darkness. But Raymond didn't stop there. He was determined finish what he had already started. Raymond wasn't known for backing down from any sort of challenge or fight. Because of how dark the hallways had become, Raymond had to hear his surrounding in order to follow them. Even though Raymond collided with a few walls and windows here and there, he began to adapt to the fact of using his ears to navigate himself.

All of a sudden, the screeching sound of a door opening and closing soon rang in Raymond's ear. This indicated to Raymond that the mysterious filly had gone in through the door. Raymond had begun to slow himself down, not wanting to collide head first into the door. Once he had slowed down, he extended his mouth, hoping to find the metallic handle of a door. To his surprise, he did. As Raymond gripped the handle and began to open it with his mouth, he quickly zoomed in through the gap in between the door before the metallic door closed on him. Once inside the room, Raymond saw a light switch above him had been turned on. The sound of dripping water from a leaking pipe had ringed trough the echoing room. Some broken chains had fallen to the floor near the side of a wall. A small puddle of blood had been imprinted on the floor right next to the previously cut chains. (read chapter 12 if you haven't already)

As Raymond begun to search around the room for the mysterious little filly, he soon saw the dead corpse of another pony that laid in the side of the room, or at least what used to be a pony. The entire thing had been completely bones. What shocked Raymond was how it was able to stay all in one piece. As he approached the pile of pones he could see a metallic shackle around its bottom leg. It had been slumped over the corner of the wall. Raymond could tell it was an earth pony since its forehead had no point to it and its sides didn't have any hooks for the wings. Raymond could soon see a mass array of all different kinds of bugs as well as their eggs inside the corpse of the pony. The entire sight could've made anypony literally empty out their stomachs, but not Raymond. For some reason, he felt a sense of joy and overpowerment because of this. It made him feel stronger and more powerful.

Suddenly, there was a quick wispy sound in the air, followed by Raymond feeling a small pinch in his neck. What he thought was a mosquito or a bee was actually something completely different. It took him a while to realize he had been injected with the green filly that he had been following earlier. As Raymond began to fall to the ground, he peaked his head up to see none other than the mysterious filly land on the ground in a professional manner, with her backside turned towards Raymond. She was still holding the needle in her mouth, but ithe contents inside the needle already had been emptied. This led Raymond to realize that he had been injected with the poison contained in the needle. As Raymond began to feel the life slip away from his own body, he began to hear voices in his head.

_"Raymond"_ A soft soothing voice rang in his head.

"W-what w-w-was that?" Raymond began freaking out, not caring if he had lost his cool. "W-who are y-you?" All of a sudden, the green filly facing away from Raymond turned her head, her own body following along. Soon, she was directly facing Raymond.

_"The path to what you now seek is only an illusion. Taking it will only cause more confusion. If you wish to go as you please, you will be nothing but seized. Never trust anypony, for they could be nothing but a phony. What seems good is only about to get worse. Who knows if you'll run into a curse? Don't defy those who are greater than you. For if you do, you'll be all but doomed. Always take the challenging side of life. Life isn't the same without some strife. Just remember this one last bit. What you believe in is not what you wish." _Those words rang in Raymond's head over and over. He didn't know if he should believe what the mysterious filly was saying or ignore it. It didn't matter though to Raymond at all. He could feel death grasp on to him, ready to pull his soul away from his lifeless body and end life for him as he knew it. That was until the voice began ringing in Raymond's head again.

_"For listening, I will do you one favor. For this, making me your savior. Your soul and life I will find, only if you keep those words in head and mind."_ With that, a small, flowing dash of light made its way out of the filly's eyes. It soon began making its way over to the nearly dead Raymond, the light wrapping around his entire body. A flash of light separated the filly from Raymond, and all of a sudden, the light was absorbed into Raymond's very own body. As Raymond began to get up on all fours slowly, the voices of the other mystical filly spread through his mind.

_"I see you have a lot of pride" _The mysterious filly's words spread through Raymond's head. Suddenly, the door across the room began opening slowly, startling the filly. She soon began to dash towards one of the walls of the room. As she approached the walls, a few final words rang in Raymond's head before she left.

_"See you on the flipside."_ With that, the filly had just jumped through the entire stone wall like it was nothing. This left shock in Raymond, seeing that such a small, powerless pony having such large abilities.

"Raymond?" A voice echoed from across the room. Raymond quickly turned his head towards the owner of the voice to find a green Pegasus with a dark green mane with a strap around his neck and what seemed to be a full gold gun.

"Snake!" Raymond shouted. He was more that glad to see the only pony in the entire world that he could trust. Or, that's what he thought. _"Never trust anypony, for they could be nothing but a phony." _The filly's words rang through his head constantly, not wanting to leave. Trying to think of something different and less irritating, Raymond began to change the subject. "So, where have you been?" Raymond asked.

"Oh, just a little skull cracking and neck twisting." Snake responded.

Raymond began grumbling to himself. "Heh, typical Snake."

"Aaannd." Snake added, drawing the attention of Raymond. "I also got to swap weapons with this sick-ass device." He said, pretending to fire it at the celling. "So, where have you been?"

Raymond began sweating at this question. He didn't want to tell Snake his experience with the mysterious filly he had met earlier, especially how she pretty much scared him. "Heh, better kept a secret than anything else." Raymond responded while slowly trotting towards the door.

"Come on, tell me." Snake turned around and began trotting with Raymond. He began to bug Raymond to spill the beans, but he refused.

"Buck off." Raymond snapped at Snake. "I've had one hell of a day, so the best you could do right now is shut your mouth." With that, Snake suddenly had shut up. He didn't want it to get any worse. As the two walked out of the room, the final words of the mysterious filly rang in Raymond's head for the last time.

"_Just remember this one last bit. What you believe in is not what you wish."_

And with that, the two were off.

**Done with chapter….um… well forget it. I've actually written around 23 thousand words so far. That must mean something these days. As mentioned before, I am still taking new OC's, songs, and enemies. Thanks to Timefather64 for giving me a good and useful name for the new filly introduced in this chapter. Just like Jakben, this little filly will also appear more in the later chapters. I don't really have much to say rather that review, so, with that said, I sauté you to a good night's rest.**


	15. Chapter 14 Soup Kitchen

** Hello there. I'm back with another update. Truly, I'm in a good mood today. In algebra class, two kids in the back of the class were talking, and the teacher yelled at them. I then ended up saying "Set them on fire!". As a result, I made the entire class crack up for a good 5 minutes. Even the teacher began laughing. That there just boosted up my personality level and I'm happy about that. Now, back on to task. This chapter will be on Applejack. This chapter will be hard to write because of her accent, so I won't make her talk much to make it simpler. Now onwards with the story.**

Chapter 14 – Soup Kitchen

Just as everypony else, Applejack awoke in a dizzy and confused state. She forced open her eyes, which ached more than ever. As she took in her surroundings, she saw herself in what seemed to be a kitchen. Everything seemed normal, until she actually got a closer look at things. Blood stained certain areas of the walls and the tiles on the floor. A small drain was located in the center of the room that was supposed to contain any extra fluids in the area. Pots and pans were scattered around the tables of the kitchen. The lighting provided by a single light bulb was very weak, making it challenging for Applejack to see anything.

As Applejack began to get up on all four hoofs, she finally realized that her hat had been missing. She frantically began searching around the room for that hat. It had been in her life for as long as she knew. Ever since she was a little foal to this day, he own hat was like a security blanket to her. Right as Applejack was about to give up, she began to hear noises down the hallway. She knew that she had to hide or she would be caught. The last thing that anypony wanted was for them to get caught on the Ark, one of the most deadliest prisons and science abs in the world of Equestria. Applejack frantically began searching around the dim kitchen for a place to hide before it finally hit her. She began galloping quietly towards a corner with a large pot leaning off to the side of it. Just as the door opened, she dove into the dark corner and grabbed the large pot, placing it over herself so she wouldn't be seen.

Two different ponies had trotted into the room, or at least that's what Applejack had thought. One was actually being carried by the other.

"NO, NO, PLEASE, LET ME GO, I BEG OF YOU!" The light purple mare of the two screamed. She was being dragged into the room by the stallion of the group. The stallion was a grayish color and was wearing a heavy amount of armor around his chest and back. Applejack had assumed he had been one of those intense and brutal guards Fluttershy had mentioned about. She had told them before to keep a close eye out for them and in any circumstances, not get detected by them. Celestia knows what they would do to you if they caught you sneaking around the Ark.

As the stallion began dragging the mare, the mare began crying intense, begging the stallion not to harm herself. Suddenly, the stallion had gotten tired of the mares helpless screams and used all his force and strength to throw her against the wall of the dimly lit kitchen.

"SHUT UP!" The stallion yelled in a very rough pitched voice. "You think I want to do this? You think I like doing this to ponies like you? If you haven't already noticed, I don't have any other choice! I've already been assigned to this task and I'm not going to just back down just so you can live the rest of your pathetic life!" With that, he began nearing the already shriveled up mare. Soon, the guard had picked up a dagger with his own hoof and was only inches away from the mare. At this point, the mare had already lost control of her bladder. Right as the stallion was ready to end the mare's life, he spoke to the mare for the last time. "I'm so sorry." With that, he jabbed the dagger into the mare's throat, literally choking her. Blood began spewing from the incision immediately afterwards and began running down the mares light purple coat. The stallion guard began twisting the dagger into her throat, emanating a loud crunching sound from the breaking of bones and veins. The mare couldn't breathe at this point. She knew that there would be no remaining hope for her and that she would die right then and there. The entire time Applejack was witnessing the tragic yet disturbing event. She could feel her stomach turn inside out as her breakfast began to rise up her throat. Applejack wanted to do something, anything to help the poor mare, but didn't want to risk an instant and brutal death from the guard. As the guard began to deliver the final blow onto he innocent mare, he had learned his head into the mare's ear and whispered one last thing.

"I've never told anypony this, but I've always loved you to death." With that, he shoved the dagger into the mare's throat with all his might, causing it to rip through skin and bone alike, ending the mares life once and for all. All that was left was the copse of the lifeless body of what used to be a sweet, innocent pony. Applejack had been told that the Ark was a crucial and devastating place, but she never imagined it to be like this.

The stallion guard soon swiftly removed the dagger from the mare's throat. The mares body, or what was left of it at least, had stuck to the side of the wall by itself. Just when Applejack thought it was over, the stallion guard was just getting started. He soon put the dagger covered in blood into his mouth, while he used his free hoof to grab the copse by the already broken neck. Holding the corpse, he dragged it all the way to the table in the far side of the kitchen, where he plopped the corpse onto the table, which was already covered in dried blood. The result of this was a loud crashing sound onto the hard marble. Putting the bloody dagger away, the guard had used his free mouth to reach for a clean, simple knife. Carrying the knife in his mouth, he began to press the knife against the hide of the deceased pony and cut a soft line down the very own hide. Applejack couldn't stand what was happening anymore. She tried to close her eyes and think happy thoughts such as butterflies and rainbows, but nothing could prevent her from thinking of the excruciating thoughts floating around in her head.

Once the stallion was done cutting the mare, he backed away slowly and began to admire his own work. He had cut a straight line on the mare from her already bruised neck to the space right in between her two back hoofs. Blood and gore had spread all around the large wound. Intestines and guts flooded the area. It was too much for Applejack to look at, and she knew that she couldn't hold up any longer. Any moment now she would regurgitate and the guard would hear her, which would mean game over.

Placing the knife down, the guard made his way back to his work and began sticking his two front hoofs into the mares already opened stomach. He began fiddling around with the intestines before ripping them out of the light purple mare. Blood splattered around the area as the stallion guard had ripped both the small and large intestines out of the mare. Placing both body parts to the side, he reached into the mare and did the same thing to all the internal organs, as well as the external organs. Once everything had been removed from the mare, all that remained was the outer shell of hide as well as the dense bones from inside. Taking the corpse in his hoofs, he began carrying it with him and placed it in the corner of the room, going to deal with it later.

Returning to the already removed organs, the stallion guard began searching around the room for a pot or pan in order to cook the organs. After scanning the room for a while, the guard found a large, upside down pot in the corner of the kitchen. As the stallion guard began approaching he upside down pot, Applejack began noticing the guards presence. He slowly began trotting towards the pot, making time pass b so dramatically. Applejack knew that she only had a matter of time before the guard would take the pot and see her eavesdropping the entire time. She soon began panicking, seeing her entire life flash quickly before her very own eyes. Just as she thought there would be no hope for her and she would be found, a loud clashing sound rang from the other side of the kitchen.

"What the.?" The guard yelled aloud, turning is head to the impact of the sound. What he saw was a rat-like creature scurrying around the room. When you live in a place like the Ark, you never know what creature you'll encounter each and every day. The mutant rat had been searching around the kitchen for anything to eat. Apparently, the stallion guard had noticed this and began chasing the rat out of the kitchen. "No, shoo, shoo, get away, get away you little bastard!" The guard shouted, trying to scare away the rat. Applejack knew that this was it, that this was her only distraction and she had to use it wisely. She snuck out of the pot and lowered it so carefully that it didn't make a sound. Once out of the pot, Applejack quickly searched around the kitchen for a new place to hide, one that the stallion guard would never find her hiding in. She soon noticed a vent not too high above where she was. Since the lighting of the room was very dim, it was simple for her to move around without getting noticed. Standing on the large pot on her back two hooves, Applejack used her front two hooves to reach for the vent lid and carefully take it off and placed it between her arms, careful not to drop it. She then used all her lower strength to give herself a jump start and launched herself towards the empty gap in the ceiling. Once letting her two front hooves grasp the edge of the vent, Applejack quickly hoisted herself up before the stallion guard noticed her.

Reaching for a butchers knife, the guard slowly inched his way closer to the rat in front of him, who was sitting still, smelling the already cut organs of the mare. As the guard was about to close in on the rat, the rat quickly leaped out of the way and dove for the exit door, escaping without taking any damage.

"Son of a bitch!" The stallion guard said to himself, maddened at what tremendous trouble the rat had brought him. Turning around, he resumed his normal task and began trotting over to the pot in the corner. As he began to pick it up, he noticed a little cowboy hat underneath it.

"What the?" Applejack softly whispered to herself. She began to think how in the world of Equestria had her hat gotten stuck there. She didn't even remember having it in the first place.

Putting the pot aside, the guard had picked up the hat and began wondering why it was there in the first place. It then hit him that he wasn't the only one in the kitchen. His ears suddenly perked up as his attention of his surroundings grew, trying to locate the other pony in the room. Carrying the cowboy hat with him, the guard picked up the pot with his only free hoof and began trotting to the stoves of the kitchen. The stoves had been completely rusted and were even bent and tilted here and there. Placing the large pot onto the stove, he lit the flame beneath the stove, causing fire to suddenly appear. Going towards the sink, the stallion had filled up a somewhat large jar with water all the way to the top. To Applejacks surprise, the old and rusty sink actually worked and managed to produce water from itself. Trotting back to the already preheated pot with a jar of water, the guard had poured the contents of the jar into the pot. A sizzling sound was soon made as the cold water had hit the hot surface of the pot. Steam soon rose as the two collided.

Backing away from the stove, the guard soon made his way to the tray with all the organs of the deceased pony. Taking the tray into his mouth, the guard made his way back to the pot filled with bubbling water and tilted the tray outwards, causing all the bloody organs to fall straight into the pot. The color of the water soon turning a bright, ominous red as the blood had mixed with the water itself. Putting the empty tray down to the side and grabbing a wooden spoon into his mouth, the guard began stirring the contents of the pot.

Five minutes later, when the contents of the pot was all warm and toasted, the guard had removed the pot from the stove and turned off the flame of the stove beneath it. Placing the pot on the far side of the kitchen, the guard began trotting towards the other side where the cabinets were. Sorting through the cabinets, the stallion guard had found what he was looking for and took them out with his mouth. Applejack could soon see what he was taking from the vent and she soon realized what he was doing. The guard had taken around five to six metallic bowls and began trotting towards the pot in the distance. Once there, he laid the bowls out one by one and grabbed a soup spoon from the drawer below. Using the soup spoon, he divided the pots content into six equal sizes and placed each one in a bowl. Applejack couldn't even stand what she was seeing anymore. This was cannibalism that they were doing. First they kill a pony and then they use their organs to make soup. Applejack was truly disgusted and began thinking that she could never eat again.

Once the soup was separated and put evenly into the six bowls, the guard had put the same tray he used to hold the organs before and placed it on his back to ensure he had balance. Then, he carefully put the bowls on the tray and his back one by one, hoping for them not to spill like last time. Once everything was done and taken care of, the guard began slowly trotting out of the kitchen with the soup bowls of what used to be an innocent, lovely mare.

Applejack was all alone at this point. The guard had her hat and she had an idea of how cruel a place like this could be. Knowing that the vent was the only escape route for her, she quickly began sliding down the vent. She knew that when she found the others, she would tell them, of what a cruel and violent place this is. Of what the Ark really is.

**Finished with chapter 14. I honestly got to say, this chapter was pretty violent, but it isn't the most violent chapter in the story. I will be expecting gorier and bloodier chapters to appear here and there so I will warn you about them. Just to let you know, the pony that died in this chapter is very unlikely to ever appear for the rest of the story. What happened in this chapter is really what happens when an intruder is found on the Ark. They are killed and made into food for the rest of the prison mates. Also, I am still accepting new OC's and song requests. There really isn't that much to say about this chapter rather that review. So, with that said, I wish you all a good night.**


	16. Chapter 15 The Colt in the Mirror

**Hello there and welcome to chapter 15. Right now, I have 2 things to tell you. One of them is good while the other one is devastating. I actually think I'll tell you the news later on at the end of the chapter. This chapter will focus on Seamus as he survives the Ark. Also, I'm sorry for not making this clear earlier but in the last chapter, what happens in the soup that was made with pony organs gets served to the prison mates as food, and they take in that food like poison and have a slow, painful death. The reasoning behind this is because the Ark always needs to make new room for new prisoners from time to time. I don't really have anything else to say rather than let's begin, so let's begin.**

Chapter 15 – The Colt in the Mirror

"Beep" A loud alarm echoed through the hallways of the Ark. The hallways soon turning a bright red as the alarms went off from each side of the walls. The sound of hoof steps trotting along the cold metal floor rang through the area. Chaos was going around from one corner into another. Nothing made sense, to Seamus that is.

Seamus, just like evrypony else, had woken up to be laid out on the floor and had a massive headache. As he lifted his head from the ground, he could tell that he was on the Ark already. He had been told that the Ark was mostly constructed out of metal and glass, and after looking around at his surroundings for a while, he had confirmed where he was at the moment. As Seamus had gotten up on all four and had regained balance again, he soon had the feeling that he was being watched. Turning around in a 180 degree angle, Seamus searched the area for anything suspicious. Realizing that he wasn't being stalked and that it was all a figure of his imagination, Seamus began trotting down the hallway. He soon thought to himself that if he was going to be stuck on the Ark for a while, he might as well do some sightseeing.

Trotting slowly down the hallway, Seamus looked at each door to the side of the hallway. He remembered being told by Fluttershy that the Ark was a very large and complex prison and you should never just wander off in random places. Who knows what or who you'll run into? Finding a unique door to the left of Seamus that for some reason had stood out to him, Seamus galloped towards it and opened the metallic door with his own mouth. Opening the heavy door, Seamus quickly dashed in to the room before the door could have the chance to close on his mare-ish body. Once inside the room, he could see he was in another long hallway. This time, there was no windows. All that could be found was mirrors covering every inch of the walls.

As Seamus began trotting down the long hallway full of mirrors, he turned his head now and then to get a glance at his reflection. As he turned his head towards the left mirror, he noticed something unusual. The reflection in the mirror had some sort of a cream color coated hide as well as a dark mane and tail. As Seamus neared the reflection, he soon realized that what he was seeing wasn't true and that the mirror had to be some sort of illusion. Knowing that, Seamus began testing out the reflection to see if it really was true. He had gotten up on his bottom two hoofs and pressed his front two hoofs onto the glass. The reflection had done the exact same moves with careful agility. Getting back down on all four hoofs, Seamus began turning his body to the side to get a better glimpse of the colt in the mirror. What he soon noticed that the colt on the other side of the mirror had no wings on his side. Looking up to where his horn should have been was an empty gap too. Seamus then realized that the colt's reflection had been an earth pony. He soon had a brilliant idea to test if the reflection in the mirror really was him.

Seamus had used his hind hoofs to launch himself up, and in the meantime had unfolded his wings. Seamus was now airborne. Gliding through the air insulated inside the Ark, Seamus began looking down at the reflection beneath him to find that he had been right the entire time. The reflection was still stuck on the ground and had been looking up at Seamus the entire time.

Suddenly, a loud crashing noise had floated through the air, startling the two colts. Seamus had made his way gently back to the ground where it had been more stable. All of a sudden, guards had burst through the mirrored hallway through one of the doors at the end of the hallway. To Seamuses surprise, the guards had appeared on the other side of the hallway where the other colt was. Just then, Seamus knew what was going to happen next. The guards began rushing at full speed towards the colt . The colt, at this point had gotten on his hind hoofs and pressed his front hoofs against the glass right in front of Seamus. He had mouthed the words "Help me" to Seamus. Seamus knew that he had to take evasive action and help the innocent colt. With that, Seamus began using some of his very little magic to make his horn glow. A green aura had not only appeared around his horn, but also around the colt on the other side of the glass. Right as the guards had closed in on him, the colt had suddenly vanished right before the guards eyes. A loud wavy sound was heard, followed by a bright light across the room, causing the colt to reappear on the other side of the hallway. The colt had fallen to the ground from all the stress that had just built up in his body. As he began to get up, he was soon tugged on and later dragged by Seamus. He looked up and soon realized why he was being dragged by him. He knew that this was their chance to escape while the guards were still paralyzed.

As they reached the end of the door, Seamus was too tired to use his mouth to open the door, so, as a result he had used the remainder of his magic to open the 20 pound door.

Once outside of the glass hallway, Seamus had shut the door behind him and literally passed out onto the floor. He had used every inch of magic inside of him and was drained out completely. Right as he was about to fall unconscious, he was woken up by the other colt.

"The buck did you save me for." The colt began talking in a somewhat slang fashion. His voice was rough with a hint of smoothness in it. Seamus didn't know why, but he reminded him of his long lost friend Sky.

As Seamus began to get up, he soon began asking vital questions to the other colt. "What's your name?" Seamus asked while painting heavily in between each word.

"Little Strife." The colt responded, pointing his front hoof towards himself. "But you can just call me Strife." Returning the question, Strife began asking the same thing, only to realize who he was talking to. "And you are… HOLY SHIT!" He yelled. "YOU'RE A BUCKIN' ALLICORN! Dude, those creatures are like legendary. Aren't they born like every thousand years or something?" Strife kept on going on and on about who he was taking to until Seamus had suddenly shut him up.

"I'm Seamus" He said, putting a hoof to the other colt's mouth to shut him up. "But you can call me Sea if you don't mind."

"Well Sea." Strife said, adding on to the conversation. "How were you in the wide world of Equestria able to get onto the Ark?"

"I should be able to ask the same question to you too, my good colt." Seamus replied, circling around the colt.

"Hey, I asked you first!" Strife began raising the tone of his voice.

"Fine." Seamus surrendered. "But it's really simple. I came here with a few friends to try and rescue somepony else who I don't even know exists from the Ark."

"Wait, wait, wait wait, wait." Strife began repeating himself. "You're not the only one here?" He asked excidedly. "Dude, I've been looking for an opportunity to escape this hellhole." At this point, Strife began to get down on his knees and began begging Seamus. "Please, oh please oh please oh please oh please can you take me with you. I can't stand one more second of being trapped in this place." Seamus wasn't one to just deny ponies of their needs, so he sighed before talking again.

"Fine." A low-voiced Seamus said. "Just stay behind me and don't try anything funny." With that, Seamus began trotting out of the corridor with Strife following close behind.

"So." Strife galloped towards Seamus. "Do you get treated differently for being an alicorn?" Strife asked.

"You could say that." Seamus began trotting forward while talking to Strife. Visions of his foalhood passed through his mind. How he was mad fun of and abused physically and sexually. It scarred him to this very day, and Seamus planned to get revenge on all that had made fun of him when he was younger. Coming back into the present events, he had found that he and Strife were outside of what seemed to be a kitchen. Walking inside of it, the first thing that hit them was the smell of death and decay. Dried blood lingered through the walls onto the floor. Pots and pans were thrown all over the place. What had startled both colts was the light purple corpse of a pony that had been dead long ago. As the two ponies had neared the corpse, they found that it was completely hollow on the inside. Right as the two were closely observing the corpse, the sound of hoofsteps neared them followed by the sound of doors swinging open. The two turned around, expecting to find more guards after them, but what they saw was a lavender Unicorn as well as a dark Unicorn stallion as well.

"Seamus!" Both of them yelled at the same time. Twilight and Thunder both began galloping towards the two colts. Once they right next to the two, twilight and Thunder Ice began thinking the same question as they both looked at Strife. Seamus soon realized what they were thinking and felt stupid that he didn't realize it before.

"Oh, pardon me." Seamus broke the silence. "This is none other than Little Strife, but you can call him Strife."

"Well, It's nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilights introduced herself while extending her front hoof towards Strife, who gladly accepted it with a smudge on his face. "And this is Thunder Ice." She added, pointing a hoof towards Thunder.

"Sup kiddo." Thunder said, ruffling Strife's dark mane.

"Hey hey hey!" Strife barked. "Hoofs off. It takes forever to comb this the correct way. More silence fell between the four ponies until Seamus spoke up again.

"Well, now that were all together, why don't we go find the rest of the group and seve Dusk so we can get out of here?" Seamus asked.

"Agreed. Like said before, I can't stand and other second in this hellhole." Strife demanded.

"Well then, it's settled then." Twilight confirmed. "I overheard some guards saying that they were after a green Pegasus on the rampage."

"Looks like we know where Snake is." Thunder rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go find him." With that, the group of four ponies totted out of the bloody kitchen in search of the rest of the ponies aboard the Ark.

**I'm now done with chapter 15. Now, onto the news. First, let's do the good news. This fanfiction is now on fimfiction. Just look for Death City in the search bar or look for racecarghost in the authors. Now that the good news is over, onto the bad news. Sadly, the NJ ASK is this week and I most likely won't be able to update the story for the entire week. I'll try my best if I have any free time or am not tired or stressed out to update, but it won't be every day. With that said, I am still looking for new OC's, song requests and enemies. I now command you to review or I will burn all of you alive!**


	17. Chapter 16 Haunting Visions of the Past

** I'm happily back with another chapter of this fanfic. This chapter will now focus on Rarity, which I think have mentioned before, is now conscious again. Apparently somepony finds her and helps her regain consciousness. Now, let's begin the chapter. **

Chapter 16 – Haunting Visions of the Past

"Rarity? Rarity?" A familiar voice was shouting. To Rarity, all she heard were muffled screams as she was in some sort of deep sleep. As she began to open her eyes, Rarity had noticed that her vision had been one big blur. Her vision soon began to clear up and began to come into concentration. What she saw above her was an orange earth pony with a dirty blonde mane and tail. The two were practically centimeters away.

"RARITY!" The earth pony screamed for the last time, startling the white unicorn. Once Rarity had calmed down, she spoke up, warning the earth pony of her presence.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." Rarity repeated herself. "I think I lost an eardrum because of you." She shot back. "Oh Celestia. I have a massive headache right now." Rarity reached a hoof yup to the top of her forehead where it hurt the most, only to find a huge bump there. "What the hay?" Feeling the bump at every angle, she soon realized what had happened. She knew that when Snake had hit her in the head with a frying pan, a bump had made its way onto her forehead. Realizing this, Rarity began to faint again, her body falling to the floor afterwards.

"RARITY!" Applejack tried shouting out loud again, but it was useless. Rarity was known for passing out due to even the littlest tings. Realizing Rarity would be unconscious at least for the next hour, Applejack knew that she had to do something. She couldn't just leave Rarity all alone by herself in the Ark with all those guards roaming around. Not at least after she saw what really happens to intruders found on the Ark. Taking the unconscious unicorn by the hoof, Applejack swiftly swung Rarity onto her back and began galloping down the hallway. No longer was Applejack stuck in a vent anymore, rater she had found a hole in the vent and managed to escape the pipes. From there, she noticed Rarity on the floor and had rushed to her aid. All this had led up to where she was right now, carrying Rarity on her back and galloping for her own life.

Nearing the corner of the hallway, Applejack had accidentally turned too early around the sharp corner, and as a result, had chipped the tip of Rarity's horn. The tip had fallen to the ground, and to Applejacks surprise, hadn't made even the littlest sound.

"Son of a." Applejack had mumbled to herself quietly. Knowing that unicorns couldn't perform any type of magic without their horn being in full tact, Applejack had bent over to the ground and used her mouth to pick up the small, chipped off bit of her horn, still being careful to let Rarity drop off of her back. Once the horn had been in her mouth, Applejack resumed galloping down the hallway, tis time taking more precautions than before. Going in random directions, Applejack was getting more and more tired of the Ark and didn't care anymore if she got lost. All she cared about was avoiding the guards, finding her friends, saving Dusk, and getting the hay out of the Ark. With the chipped off tip of Rarity's horn in her mouth. Applejack began tasting the marrow on the inside of the point of the white horn. She didn't know why, but for some reason the marrow inside it had a sweet, tangy taste to it. Applejack knew what she was going was wrong, but being trapped in the Ark for the past few hours had made her hungry as ever. Her stomach grumbled loudly as she galloped down the slopes of the hallways.

Just then, as Applejack, still carrying Rarity on her back, neared another corner of the hallway, she soon collided with somepony else. She soon heard a light "oof" afterwards, hinting that she had ran into another pony. Applejack was also knocked back and Rarity was knocked off of Applejacks back and was flung to the side of the hallway. Applejack had a huge feeling that she had ran into another guard and fear soon consumed her entire body. As she got up and began to look upwards, expecting to see a guard or something, she was taken aback at who she saw.

"Pinkie?" Applejack asked the fuzzy pink earth pony who she had ran into. "Where were yall?"

"Applejack!" Pinkie Pie screamed, tackling the southern earth pony to the ground. "Oh goodness. I'd never thought I'd ever see you again. I actually thought I'd never see anypony ever again. That was until I found Lightning Flash." She said all in one breath, pointing a hoof towards Lightning. Applejack had to lift her head in order to get a good glimpse of Lightning Flash, and boy did she like what she saw. A silence spread between the ponies as Applejack had gotten a good look at Lightning Flash, who had averted his eyes the entire time. As always Pinkie Pie was the one who had broken the silence.

"Gasp, you found Rarity!" She yelled, charging towards the unconscious Rarity thrown towards the corner of the hallway. "Oh, and she's still unconscious. What happened?"

Applejack began to get up on all fours again after Pinkie Pie had jumped off of her and began explaining. "When I found her, she began regaining her consciousness. But when she felt that bump on her head, she had passed out. She's a real drama queen if yall ask me."

Pinkie Pie began kicking her front hoof towards Rarity's head, trying to see if she was breathing or not. To her luck, she was, but Pinkie didn't know when she would wake up.

"We'd better get a move on before any of the guards find us." Lightning spoke to the group for the first time.

"Agreed." Applejack looked directly at Lightning again. "Last thing ah want is tah be killed, cut open, and have mah insides turned into soup." She had blurted out

"What?" Pinkie yelled. "What are you saying? I thought I was the only one who said the weird things around here. I mean really, being turned into soup. Ha! That's the silliest thing I've heard all day. Right Lightning?" Pinkie chuckled at Applejacks statement.

"I'm afraid she's telling the truth." A depressed Lightning Flash responded, turning his head downward.

"W-what do you mean?" Pinkie had stopped laughing and became extremely concerned in less than a few seconds.

"Heh, it's been a long time ago." Lightning began trotting to one of the many windows in the Ark.

/watch?v=jJOjUsXlo5k

(copy and paste in a new tab on youtube)

Lightning had jumped up onto his back two hoofs and had pressed his front two hoofs against the Plexiglas windows. Leaning towards them, he let out a huge sigh as he looked out into the dark, distant space surrounding him. All Applejack and Pinkie Pie did was stare at him in a confused state as he began his story. "A long time ago, when I was just a colt, I had this prison mate that I loved and adored. What was special about her was that she had the exact same feelings for me too. That was until, the day came. The day that I had been so foolish as to lose her forever.

_Is it any wonder why I'm scared?__  
__If I was a little younger would I care?__  
__Feeling like the walls are growing stronger__  
__I don't know if this cage__ c__an hold me any longer_

Lightning began to shed a tear as sadness had consumed his entire body as memories of his past ran through his mind.

_You never dreamed you'd have to__live your life so guarded__  
__Cause they'll find a way to__make you feel discarded_

"A breakout of the prison had occurred that day. Apparently, a massive amount of creatures that were a combination of not only water but also fire had broken out of the labs of the Ark and had gone on a rampage, eating away at all the walls of the prison." Lightning continued.

_I'm not afraid of tomorrow__  
__I'm only scared of myself__  
__Feels like my insides are on fire__  
__And I'm looking through__ t__he eyes of somepony else_

"We both knew that this was our chance to escape and start a new life all over again, just the two of us. So we escaped." Lightning's memories had taken full control of himself as he let the story play out as if he was experiencing it all over again.

_I never thought they'd want me__ t__o go even faster__  
__Never thought I took my hoof off the gas__  
__Everypony loves to be in on the pressure__  
__But I know they're all waiting__ f__or the crash_

"What happened then?" Pinkie Pie had asked. Her curiosity getting the best of herself

"We galloped as fast as we both could. All the guards were distracted with the breakout of the watery creatures, so we knew we were in the clear. But that was what we thought." Lightning added, his voice tone turning low. "Not everything you think is really true."

_You never dreamed you'd have to__l__ive your life so guarded__  
__'Cause they'll find a way to __m__ake you feel discarded _

_S__o changed, you've become a complication__  
__Can't make it through__ a__nother day's humiliation_

"Right as we neared the shuttle room filled with escape pods, we were stopped by a large set of guards blocking the entrance." Lightning Flash added. "Then, my prison mate and only friend had done the most stupidest thing ever, something that I'll never forgive her for doing."

_I'm not afraid of tomorrow__  
__I'm only scared of myself__  
__Feels like my insides are on fire__  
__And I'm looking through__ t__he eyes of somepony else_

"W-what did she do?" Applejack had asked Lightning.

"She forced me to go back to the cell while she would cause a distraction." Lightning gave out a huge sigh and the continued. "At first, I refused and told her there was no way I'd just leave her alone by herself, but then she told me to look into her eyes. Those big, beautiful, astonishing eyes. Right then and there she used her front hooves to hug me and then swiftly turned around and began charging towards the guards. Remembering her words, I galloped back towards my own cell before I got stopped by another guard.

_Somepony else__  
__Somepony else__  
__Somepony else__  
__Is it any wonder why…__  
__The answer keeps me petrified?__  
__Is it any wonder why I'm scared?_

"Ever since then, I haven't seen her since." A saddened Lightning mentioned. "Then, one day during lunchtime, I had been given by one of the guards a bowl filled with something that was supposed to look like grub. It had a note attached to the side of the bowl that literally scarred me. I can still remember the note word for word."

_I'm not afraid of tomorrow__  
__I'm only scared of myself__  
__Feels like my insides are on fire__  
__And I'm looking through__ t__he eyes of somepony else_

"What did the note say?" A scared Pinkie Pie asked.

"Dear Lightning Flash," Lightning began reciting the contents of the note. "We've realized how depressed you've been over the past few days and we decided to give you a little 'treat' to cheer you up. Your treat is none other than your cell mate, or what used to be her, at least. This is a warning to you and all your prison friends. Escaping this place is never an option. So sit tight unless you want to be grounded alive and made into a puree."

_Is it any wonder why I'm scared?__  
__(I'm not afraid of tomorrow)__  
__If I was a little younger would I care?__  
__(I'm only scared of myself)__  
__Feeling like the walls are growing stronger__  
__(Feels like my insides are on fire)__  
__And I'm looking through__  
__The eyes of sompony else__  
__Is it any wonder why I'm scared?_

'So your saying that if we are found, we'll be killed and turned into food?" Pinkie screamed as she began hyperventilating. Applejack tried to calm Pinkie Pie down, but she wasn't even listening to her one bit. Soon, noises from across the hallway began growing louder as the shadows approached the four ponies. Pinkie Pie couldn't control herself anymore and began crying obnoxiously loud. The three ponies knew that this was the end and that they were going to not only be found, but also killed. This was until they realized who was approaching them the entire time.

"Pinkie Pie?" A familiar voice asked from the distance. As Pinkie suddenly stopped crying and looked up, she saw none other than Snake and Raymond.

"Guys!" She screamed while charging up to them and giving them a big hug. "I thought we were going to be killed and made into food." Pinkie Pie said with relief.

"Wait, what?" An extremely confused Raymond had asked. "What do you mean killed and turned into food?"

"It's a long story." Pinkie replied.

"Heh, looks like we arrived in good timing." Snake poked his head away from Pinkies. "We've already got Rarity, who for some reason is still unconscious, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, me, Raymond and…." Snake suddenly stopped as he was suddenly looking directly at Lightning Flash.

"Oh, Snake and Raymond, this is Lightning Flash. Lightning, this is Snake Evergreen and Raymond." Pinkie jumped in, introducing the three ponies. All Lightning did as a response was wave his front hoof at the other two ponies then resumed looking out the window.

"Great, now all we need to do is find Twilight, Thunder, Seamus, Rainbow, and Fluttershy." Raymond added. "If we can find Fluttershy, she can surely help us find Dusk and get the hay out of here."

"Well it's settled then." Pinkie confirmed. "Let's go find the rest of the group and go save Dusk!" Pinkie Pie yelled, taking control of the group. "Onward!"

As the group began trotting down the hallway, Pinkie Pie had put Rarity on her back just like before and the group was off, with Lightning Flash all the way in the back as he began to mumble some words behind everyponys back.

"I'll find you, Jessica." Lightning mumbled to himself. "I know your still alive somewhere out there, I can feel it."

**Done with chapter 16. I should consider myself really lucky to be able to update even during testing week. I know for sure that I won't be able to update for tomorrow but I do know I will be able to update the day after. As always, I'm still looking for new character OC's as well as songs too. The song used in this chapter was Tomorrow by SR-71. I know from now that this won't be the last time I will be using that band in this fanfic. With that said, I command you to review or be turned into food and be fed to prison mates. (that sounded extremely lame, lol)**_  
_


	18. Chapter 17 The Loyal Guard

** Hello everypony! Back with another chapter. Let me just start off by saying that the NJ ASK sucks shit! Or at least the Language Arts section does. My hand (or hoof) had felt like it was going to fall off. Back to the story, this chapter will be on Rainbow Dash and the next one will be on the timid little Pegasus Fluttershy. This chapter will be full of surprises and you never know if a new character will appear here or there. Let's begin, shall we?**

Chapter 17 – The Loyal Guard

"Hello?" A faint voice rang in Rainbow Dash's ear. To her, she had never heard the tone of that voice and knew it was somepony new. Rainbow wanted to hid the snooze button and rest for just a few more minutes, but knew that it was a pony this time that was trying to wake her up, not an alarm.

"Ugg. Whats going on?" A dizzy and confused Rainbow Dash asked. She had just lifted her head to the ground and had began to open her eyes to see what was supposed to be a lamp right in her face. The bright lights of the lamp had illuminated the area around her, not to mention nearly blinded her and prevented her from seeing anything.

"Thank Celestia you're awake. I thought you weren't going to make it through." The same voice had said but this time with happiness in his voice.

"W-where am I?' A traumatized Rainbow Dahs asked. Taking in her surroundings, she saw that she had been in what looked like a miniature hospital room. Small cabinets and shelves containing all sorts of medicine hung on the wall. A sink had been attached to the wall right next to the silver steel door. Rainbow had turned her head down to see that she was laid out onto what was supposed to be a mattress bed. "That's why I slept so well" Rainbow thought to herself. Turning her head back up to the other pony in the room, she began examining the Pegasus stallion. He had a maroon coat that was covered with what seemed like a military uniform. His mane and tail had been a mixture of black and white while his cutie mark had been a crosshair with two knives intersecting. From there, Rainbow Dash had assumed his special talent was archery or darts or something. There was a moment of silence between the two as the two observed each other closely. Getting back to the task at hoof, Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence as she had asked the first question that had hit her mind.

"Who the hay are you!" Rainbow yelled at the mysterious stallion who for some reason couldn't take his own eyes of Rainbow. The stallion all of a sudden had snapped out of his thoughts and had gotten back to the present itself.

"W-who, me?" The stallion had asked Rainbow Dash while simultaneously pointing his front hoof towards his chest.

"No, who's me?" Rainbow sarcastically answered. "YES YOU!" She began to yell. "Who the buck are you!" By now, Rainbow was airborne and the two were face to face. The stallion had become nervous by now and had begun to sweat. He wasn't well known for communicating with ponies of his opposite gender.

"I-I'm Hurricane Splitter." The stallion guard had said. "But you can call me Blur."

"Well, Blur," Rainbow Dash responded, landing back on the ground with all four of her hooves and her wings folded to her side. "I'm none other that Rainbow Dash. You've probably heard of me as the fastest mare in all of Equestria, haven't you?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." Blur had responded. This began to intimidate Rainbow Dash.

"What!" Never heard of me! You must be calling bluff. I don't believe you. I CAN'T believe you." Rainbow Dash began to complain on and on. All Blur had did was look into Rainbow's eyes. They held an assortment of different colors and visuals that had stunned Blur. Once Rainbow Dash had finished her complaining, she noticed that Blur had been staring uncontrollably at her again and had been stunned by her beauty. She was a little taken aback by this and knew she had to end it there before things got worse. This was until her memory began working a and coming into play again as she finally realized who she had been talking to this entire time.

"OH CELESTIA!" She screamed as she had unfolded her wings and had taken off into the air again.

"W-what is is?" A scared Blur had asked. He had been snapped out of his daydream again and was now into full focus. He could obviously tell something was wrong and had rushed to Rainbow Dash's aid, trying to comfort the startled cyan Pegasus.

"Y-you're a g-guard!" She blurted out, total fear consuming her entire body. She had been reminded by Fluttershy that the guards found on the Ark were extremely dangerous and shouldn't be at all costs be played or fooled with.

"Yeah, so." A calmed Blur had responded. Frankly, he didn't really understand why Rainbow was so scared all of him all of a sudden. He began to think that she just had a bad encounter with a previous guard or something.

"Wait, why aren't you hurting me?" Rainbow Dash asked. She was now on the floor right beneath Blur and was cowering in fear, her hooves covering the top of her head and face.

"Heh, I don't play around like the other guards." Blur began to answer Rainbows question. "I find what they do to intruders is….. just plain wrong." Blur had prevented himself from telling Rainbow Dash the truth of what really happened to the intruders of the Ark if they were really caught. He had scarred so many ponies in the past with his true story, and he wasn't in the mood for scaring another one, especially this one. Something about Rainbow Dash had for some strange reason turned Blur on. Something about her had made Rainbow seem so charismatic to Blur.

"Wait." Rainbow Dash chimed in again. "So how did I even get here in the first place?"

"Oh. I found you just lying unconscious in the hallway all by yourself." Blur replied. "I didn't have the guts to just leave you there and get captured by another guard, so I took you with me and galloped here as fast as I could before any other guard could realize what I was really doing. I then came here and placed you here on the bed. I waited and waited until you awoke just moments ago. Who knows what would happen if I just left you there for anypony else to just find you and take you captive." Blur began chuckling a little as he said this.

"Oh, heh." A large blush had spread across Rainbows checks as she began to regret saying what she had asked earlier.

"Oh, by the way, that reminds me." Blur had broken the silence between the two. "We have to leave now." With that, Blur had grabbed Rainbow Dash's hoof with his own and began dragging her out of the room. "We can't stay in there forever. The more we move around, the better a chance we have of not getting detected by the guards."

"Wait, stop!" Rainbow yelled quietly, trying not to get the attention of any nearby guards. "You know this place well, do you?" She asked Blur.

"It depends." Blur had responded. "Just what specifically are you looking for?"

"Well, me and my friends came to the Ark in search for a stallion who lives in this place." Rainbow Dash began to scratch her head with her hoof. "I think his name was Dusk or something. Anyway, when we were teleported here, each of us for some reason got separated. Can you help me find my friends and find Dusk, please?" Rainbow Dash by now had gotten on her knees and was now practically begging Blur to help her.

Blur was not one to deny anypony, especially Rainbow Dash. "Alright. But only on one condition. When we save your friend and escape, I want to come with you. I want to be able to live in peace and freedom and not be controlled by this Celestia-for-saken death trap. Understand?"

"I hear you loud and clear." This was Rainbow's only reply. "Now come on." With that, Rainbow had flown up into the air for the third time today and began dragging Blur with him. Blur knew that this was going to be one hectic experience, but being with Rainbow Dash made his heart skip a beat every now and then. Blur couldn't tell if he was experiencing a case of love syndrome or something. He had never felt this way with another pony before. All Blur could do was wait and find out what was to become of the two in the future.

Right as the two came to a dead end, they both had turned around to see four ponies had been following them. Taking immediate action, Blur had rushed to Rainbow Dash's side who had just been standing there the entire time and was looking into the distance of the hallway. Blur was standing right in front of Rainbow and was standing on his back two hooves, while his front two hooves were extended to the side, blocking anything from reaching Rainbow Dash. As the four ponies began closing in on the two ponies, Rainbow Dash suddenly realized who it was and made her way past Blur to the four ponies.

"GUYS!" Rainbow Dash had yelled, tackling Twilight to the ground as she did so. Looking up, she saw Thunder Ice and Seamus too, as well as another colt standing right next to Seamus. "Umm, who's he?" She asked, pointing a hoof towards Strife.

"Oh, he's Strife." Seamus chipped in, adding to the greetings. By this point, Strife extended a hoof towards Rainbow Dash, who gladly accepted it as a way of saying hello. AS everypony was done introducing each other, they all turned towards Blur who was standing against the wall the entire time. Rainbow Dash soon realized that everypony was looking at Blur and began to introduce him.

"Oh, guys meet Hurricane Splitter." Rainbow Dash introduced the stallion guard. "Still, you can call him Blur. And by now, I know what you're thinking. "Oh no! It's a guard! Quick, run!" Well don't! Blur here is a good guy, not to mention loyal too."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Blur." Twilight introduced herself. "I'm sure you've met Rainbow Dash. I'm Twilight, he's Thunder Ice, he's Seamus, and finally, he's Strife." After everypony was introduced again, they began heading down the hallway in which they came from. They knew that they were close to getting everypony back together. Their goal had almost had been reach. So far, their army had grown substantially. Once they were done getting everypony back together, they would confront Discord and then see what Spectrum was really doing this entire time. But that was subjected to wit. Right now, the group had a bigger, more serious problem on their hooves, rescuing Dusk.

**Finished with chapter 17. I can't believe I'm actually able to update during NJ ASK week. Still, I'm looking for new OC's as well as new songs for my fanfiction as always. Speaking of OC's, the character Hurricane Splitter, or Blur, was the OC from the author Dieter N. on fimfiction and ****Diablo3112 on fanfiction. Also, if you guys reading this favor the characters Raymond and Snake, well you can get more of them in the fanfiction Dark Moon by arceus100 only on . His/her stories are quite good and are mainly about war and hurt/comfort. Still, I am looking for a name (just a name) for a stallion that will come into play later on in the story. The name needs to be appropriate as well as something ominous and mysterious to go with the pony itself. With that said, the next chapter will be on Fluttershy and then the great escape/breakout. So excited. :D. Until then, I command you to review and recommend this story to your family, friends, and even pets. Just keep in consideration that I am watching your every move.**


	19. Chapter 18 Past Scenarios

** Back with another chapter. Finally we are almost at the end of the Ark section. So far, I am truly impressed at the direction this stories heading in. Fluttershy is now the last character before the big rescue. Not much to say right now, so I will begin.**

Chapter 18 – Past Scenarios

As Fluttershy opened her eyes, she began to take in her surroundings. It suddenly had hit her on where she was. She was in one of the many long hallways of the Ark. On one side of the hallway was a steel wall covered with an assortment of metallic doors framed onto it. On the other side were the rock hard windows that were the only thing between stable ground and the everlasting space. Quick to the point, Fluttershy had gotten up and began galloping down the hall that she had been through before. The area around her had brought back devastating nightmares of her past childhood as a filly and being separated from Dusk. This was all about to change as she would first find her friends and then find Dusk and save him just like he had saved her.

/watch?v=eGt58uPGBrY

(copy and paste link in a new tab on youtube)

Each hallway and door in the Ark led to more confusion. Fluttershy remembered that the Ark had been the largest prison in the entire world of Equestria. Even bigger and larger that the royal Canterlot prison found underground. Keeping her mind on task, Fluttershy for some reason had known the Ark by memory. Being trapped in it for about a good week, she had understood the complex and knew which way to go every time she had met a crossroad.

Soon, she had reached a large vault at the end of the hallway. What surprised her was that the vault was completely open. Going through the vault, she found herself in another somewhat shorter hallway that led to another vault which also happened to be opened. As Fluttershy trotted down the hallway, she saw that all sorts of guards were knocked unconscious onto the floor of the Ark. Avoiding the guards, Fluttershy had been able to maneuver around them without disturbing or even waking one up. Reaching the end of the hallway and going through the vault, Fluttershy found herself in what seemed to be a weapons facility. Locating the door at the far end of the room, she quickly trotted out the door and down the leading hallway until she saw what seemed to be a dead end in front of her. Noticing a plastic white door to the side of the hallway, she briskly went inside it to find that she was not in what seemed to be a science lab filled with different beakers and test tubes. Ignoring all the equipment, she galloped down the science lab to the other door on the far end and made her way out of the many science labs in the Ark.

Once back in the hallways again, Fluttershy had decided to go left this time. After a while of galloping, Fluttershy had found herself in front of a steel door. Choosing to go inside of it, she found herself in what seemed to be a stony room. Chains were attached to the wall as some hanged down to the floor. There was even a dried blood puddle near a pile of broken chains. Not wanting to waste any more time, Flutterhsy had galloped across the square room till she made it out through the door on the other side.

When Fluttershy was back out in the hallways again, she had gone right this time. As she neared the end of the hallway, two metallic doors had blocked her path. Going through the door, she found that she was now in a dimly lit kitchen. The smell of death and decay had flown through Fluttershys nose, but she just ignored it and moved on. Finding that there was a vent at the top that she could fit through, she extended her wings and began flying upwards into the vent.

Crawling through the vent for a while, she soon found a small little hole implanted onto the vent in which she managed to fit through. Once out of the vent, as always, Fluttershy had been stranded in a hallway. This place began to come back to her after each turn she had made and door she had opened. Going through another random door attached to the hallway, Fluttershy soon found herself in a long hallway. But this hallway was different from the others. This one had one side covered in metal with the other side being some kind of glass mixture. Ignoring the appearance of the hallway, she had galloped through the mirrored hallway as always.

After a while of galloping down the most complex prison in the world, Fluttershy was about to give up. She knew that it was impossible for even the smartest of the unicorns to have the Ark memorized by heart. Just as Fluttershy was about to call it quits, what she saw in front of her eyes gave hope to her once again.

In front of her were none other than two groups. To the left was Twilight, Thunder Ice, Seamus, Rainbow Dash, as well as two other ponies that Fluttershy didn't recognize, with one being a colt. On the other side was Pinkie Pie carrying an unconscious Rarity, Applejack, an another pony that Fluttershy didn't recognize. Apparently, the three groups had all been in different corners of what had seemed to be a three way intersection. The only problem was that Fluttershy was her own group.

"GUYS!" Pinkie had yelled, grabbing the attention of everypony. From there, everypony began chatting with one another. This was until Twilight had silenced the group by shouting.

"Everypony quiet!" She screamed. "Now listen, we don't want to get detected by any other guards, do we?" The rest of the group had nodded their heads in agreement. "Alright then, what we need to do is work as a team now that we're all together then." Turning to Fluttershy, Twilight began asking her questions. "Fluttershy, do you have any clue as to where Dusk could be right now?"

All Fluttershy did as a response was replied to Twilight with a saddened voice. "I'm so sorry. I tried my best to find him. I searched every single inch possible of the Ark, but I just wasn't able to find him." With that, a tear had streamed down Fluttershys eye, signaling that she was about to burst into tears.

"Wait, who are you looking for?" A voice came from the back of the group. Everypony had turned their heads in order to see a guard pony behind them. Everypony began freaking out till Rainbow Dash had calmed the group down.

"Stop!" She had yelled. "He's actually a neutral guard!" Rainbow began defending Blur. "If you could just listen to what he had to say!" Turning towards Blur, Rainbow dash began responding to his question earlier. "His name is Dusk, Dusk Desolstice. He was a prisoner here for quite a while. Can you help us enough as to lead us to his cell or something.

"Hmmm, Dusk." Blur said to himself while scratching his chin with his forward hoof. "Oh wait!" He shot back at the rest of the group. "I know that guy. He sure does bring back memories. Come on follow me. I'll take you guys too his cell." With that, Blur led the remainder of the group down the hallway that Fluttershy had come from. Blur knew that Dusks cell was a while a trot away from where they were now, but he had decided to keep that secret.

Passing hallways and going through all different sorts of rooms, Blur had led the group halfway around the entire Ark. Everypony had gotten tired and some of them had begged Blur to stop or slow it down, but he only told the group that if they did, the other more brutal guards would catch up to them, and Celestia knows what they would do to them.

As everypony was right on the edge of passing out, everypony besides Fluttershy and Blur, Blur had just cornered another hallway until he had stopped. Everypony was extremely confused to as why he had just stopped all of a sudden. This was until they saw the sight in front of them that had shocked the entire group besides Blur and a few other ponies. A majority of the group awed in both amazement and shock at what they saw. Fluttershy had rushed to the front of the group to see what was going on, and she started to whisper thing to herself.

"Dusk." Fluttershy had whispered to herself. "I finally found you."

**Well, what do you think? I believe that this chapter was like a reference guide to all the other chapters with the other characters in the Ark. Honestly, I didn't actually plan for it to be like this where Fluttershy passes through all the other places that the rest of the group have been in. As always, still looking for new OC's and songs to add into this story. The song in this chapter was Eternal Engine from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, one of the best games ever. I actually believe most sonic songs were made by Jun Senoe or something, so I personally give him credit. Not much to say rather that review. I haven't said this in a while, but remember that the more reviews I get, the more effort I put into this story. So far, in fanfiction, I have a total of 30 reviews while in fimfiction I only have 5. I hope the number of likes and reviews go up when I write more of this story. So far, since NJ ASK began, I haven't been able to write much since my head has a massive headache from testing earlier so the next few chapters won't be considered the longest (ha, sexual joke.) Now, you shall review or get killed by a giant rock!**


	20. Chapter 19 Memories of a Tragic Youth

** Back again with another update. Right now, I want to apologies to Dieter N. because of my fatal mistake on redesigning the character Blur in this story. Apparently, I didn't write him the correct way so I will leave him out of the next few chapters or I will even make him begin to appear less and less until I get to the certain point where I am able to change his characteristics completely. I know that sounds complex, but just go along with it. Right now, we are at one of my favorite parts of the story, the part where everypony finally find Dusk. Let's see what happens.**

Chapter 19 – Memories of a Tragic Youth

"Dusk!" Fluttershy had yelled, charging towards the black Pegasus. Apparently, Dusk had heard this and lifted his head which was previously aimed towards the ground.

"Shadow?" Dusk asked himself, looking towards the yellow mare who was galloping towards him. Before he even got the chance to even rub his eyes and to confirm that what he was seeing was actually real, Fluttershy had tackled him into a large hug. She had squeezed herself through the wide metal bars and had pushed him into the metallic wall of the cell, standing up on her back two hooves and using her front two hooves to tightly wrap Dusk in her hoofs. Being separated from her true love for so long, Fluttershy couldn't help herself from embracing him. Suddenly enjoying this, Dusk had soon wrapped his hoofs around Fluttershy as well, confirming that he had also deeply missed her too. Taking it to the next level, Fluttershy began leaning her head into Dusks chest, resting it on him. Because of this, Dusk began stroking Fluttershys soft, luscious pink mane with his one free hoof. He had missed the feel of the soft, silkiness of her hair. All the rest of the group could do was look at the two in adornment. A couple of awws from the mares had echoed through the hallway.

The two ponies had embraced each other for a full minute. Soon, Fluttershy had pulled away and had gotten back on all four of her hooves. The same thing with Dusk. A deep shade of red had made its way onto Fluttershys yellow cheek, which was able to stand out across her entire face. As the two had become separated, all Dusk could do was look into Fluttershys eyes. He had missed that specific feature of her from being separated from her for such a long period of time. Fluttershy began doing the exact same thing. There was a moment of silence as everypony began preventing themselves from ruining the moment. Even Pinkie had a hard time keeping quiet sometimes, but knew it was an important moment to them. This was until Snake had ruined it for the entire group.

"Umm, guys?" He had grabbed the attention of everypony, even Fluttershy and Dusk. "We kinda have to go now, unless you wanna get detected." Snake said, pointing a hoof to where he assumed the exit was.

"SNAKE!" Twilight had yelled. "What have you done? You just think whatever you want to say, that you can just say it!" Twilights tone began to get louder and louder as she became more worked up over Snake. "Now because of you, you not only ruined the moment for them," Twilight screamed, pointing a hoof towards Fluttershy and Dusk. "But also for everypony else in this room!" Twilights rage began getting the best of her as she began constantly yelling at Snake. This was until Blur had chipped in, defending Snake.

"Uh, actually Twilight." Blur spoke up. "We really do have to go now. Guards usually check each and every of the cells between half hour intervals."

"Oh, heh." A very embarrassed Twilight had responded. She had hung her head low and began trotting backwards in to the group of starring eyes.

"Ok then." Blur began speaking to the group of ponies in front of him, taking charge for the first time. "There's a room approximately a mile down this hallway to the left." Blur instructed, pointing his front hoof to the hallway to the left. "The room contains new prototypes of shuttle launchers, or to you Equestrains as space pods. But don't worry. The launchers have been tested a variety of times and are in every way possible considered safe." A large amount of breath exhales coming from the group had emanated around the somewhat stony room. From this, Blur had begun trotting down the hall he had mentioned would take them to the shuttle launchers room. This was until Blur had realized nopony was following. Right before leaving the room into the long hallway, he had turned his head to find himself starring at countless blank faces behind him. Everypony had been holding the same facial expression, none. "I think you didn't hear me clearly enough." Blur had said while clearing his own throat. "ONWARD!" He had yelled. The result of this was everypony galloping behind him as he led the group. At the back of the group was none other than Fluttershy and Dusk as they began trotting at a slow steady pace. The two began to catch up on how life had been for them without the other. Fluttershy was the first of the two to speak.

"So, Dusk." She began to spoke, her loving and caring voice ringing in Dusks ears. "How come when you were able to escape when I was gone, you never did such a thing? Was it because you didn't want to see me anymore." A saddened Fluttershy had added to her previous statement, hiding a fraction of her face behind her mane. Dusk was quick to the point and had responded to Fluttershys question before things had gotten worse.

"No, no!" Dusk shouted, refusing Fluttershys guess about him. "I like you just, wait, MORE than anything ever. You truly mean the world to me and I couldn't even think of one possible way to live without you." Dusk by now had used his front hoof to brush out the pink hair hanging down from Fluttershys face. Looking underneath, he could see that Fluttershy had been smiling underneath.

"But that still doesn't answer my question." Fluttershy spoke again, this time lifting her head once more till it was angled at the same height as Dusk. "Why didn't you escape? How come you sacrificed your own life and soul just for me to be safe? How come you didn't later on escape at all, even though you knew how to get out of here?" Fluttershy began asking questions out of thin air like she was some sort of robot whose priority was to ask questions constantly. This caused Dusk to think back to the past, to the day in which he had lost Fluttershy forever, or that's what he thought.

_**Flashback:**_

Location: Ark

Time: 4:20p.m.

/watch?v=EnpfoD6zdAM

(copy and paste link in new tab)

Launching into the room like a bullet, Dusk had thrown himself, along with Fluttershy, into the shuttle launcher room. What was supposed to be an area containing tons of space pods had been completely empty. All the escape pods were missing. All, but one.

_Do you see the world in different colors?  
Do you see the world in black and gray?  
Alone in your thoughts, how many others,_

_have stood where you stand, where you stand today?  
I've stood where you stand  
But all, can you..._

_Wait for me now?  
Take off this crown  
To break all these vows  
Don't you know?  
_

_Wait for me now  
Airs running out  
Wait for me, wait for me  
Wait for me, wait for me now_

In the center of the room had contained what looked like a cylinder tube. Dusk knew from there that it was a space pod. The only problem was there was only one left. The space pods were only designed to carry no more than one pony inside of them. They had been somewhat thin and it would be impossible for two ponies to fit inside one of them, no matter what the size of the two ponies were. Realizing that only one would make it out alive, Dusk had turned to Fluttershy and began starring into her eyes once more. Fluttershy was just a filly at the time and Dusk was no older too. It soon hit Fluttershy what Dusk was about to do as she also had looked around the room, seeing only one escape pod was available. Fluttershy began begging for Dusk not to do on what he was planning, but it was already too late.

_The promise of safe return undelivered  
The ocean is wider than I first guessed  
When roads disappeared, I followed the rivers  
But somehow got in over my head  
So a deep breath I'm taking_

_Wait for me now  
Take off this crown  
To break all these vows  
Don't you know?  
_

_Wait for me now  
Airs running out  
Wait for me, wait for me  
Wait for me, wait for me now_

Dusk had pushed her into the last escape pod and had shut the door quickly, before Fluttershy had any chance of escaping. The door was only made for being opened from the outside or when the pod had reached the ground from the inside. Fluttershy had to stand up on her two back hooves in order for her to be able to fit nicely into the pod. She pressed her front hooves against the glass as she began looking at Dusk with what seemed to be tearful eyes. Dusk had soon done the same. Getting up on his hind hooves and placing his front two hooves directly in front of Fluttershys hooves, he began looking at her the same way too. The only thing separating the two was the glass of the pod. Suddenly, Dusk had learned his head inward so it layer onto the glass. Fluttershy had done the same exact thing. All of a sudden, the loud sound of galloping was heard between the two. As both ponies turned their heads towards the source of the sounds, they found none other than more guard ponies charging towards them. Dusk knew that he had to act quickly or Fluttershy would also be doomed along with him.

_A lost dream of what could have been  
A house on fire, a tangled web  
The key turns to find the locks have changed  
_

_In time to hear the back door slam  
A sound that to this day I can't forget  
The colors drained to black and gray  
_

Charging towards the activation switch at the edge of the room with all the glass overlooking the deeps of space, Dusk began feeling an intense pain in his lower left leg. Apparently, the incision of where the bullet had hit him before had begun acting up again, causing pain into his leg. Ignoring it, he had made it to the control panel with the switch that was able to get Fluttershy off the Ark. The switch that was able to change Fluttershys life forever.

_Wait for me now  
Take off this crown  
To break all these vows  
Don't you know?  
Wait for me now  
The airs running out  
Wait for me, wait for me_

Looking back at Fluttershy for the last time, Dusk had looked eyes with her, a tear shedding from his eye and falling down his cheek. Right as the guards were about to tackle Dusk to the ground, he had pulled the trigger, releasing Fluttershy from the Ark forever. The escape pod had fell out of the Ark as Dusk had fell to the ground. The guards had soon captured him and had gotten up, restraining his hoofs with their tight grip. Closing his eyes and accepting his future fate, Dusk had said one last thing to Fluttershy in the distance.

"Sayonara, Shadow" His words rang as he was soon taken away out of the shuttle launcher room by the guards of the Ark. Sadness had consumed his entire body as he knew that he would be alone for the rest of his life. Or, that was what he thought.

_Wait for me, wait for me now_

_**Present:**_

As the thought of Dusks last experience with Fluttershy on the Ark as little ponies flowed through his mind, he had soon snapped out of his daydream as Blur had spoken up again.

"We're here." He announced calmly to the group. The rest of the group had stood in place as they all inspected the launcher room. It had hit Dusk that he had been daydreaming about his past the entire time.

Stepping up to the front of the group, Dusk had gotten a glimpse of the room for himself. To his surprise, it had appeared the same exact way as how it appeared to him in his daydream. On one side of the room was full of glass, which was the only thing separating the inside of the Ark with the never-ending deeps of space. On the other side were all the space pods. To his recall, last time Dusk had been in this place, all the space pods had been taken and were all empty. The only difference of the room was that the space pod in the middle had been taken out for some particular reason. But Dusk didn't care one bit. There were still enough space pods for everypony to use to escape the Ark.

Turning back to the group, Dusk had said a few final words before the group was able to leave. "Alright, let's do this!" With that, everypony had charged to a different space pod and had closed the screen door shield in front of them. As Dusk put himself into a space pod, a very vital question had rung through his mind.

"Who was going to stay behind and launch all the space pods themselves?"

**Finished with chapter 19. This chapter took me a while to write, not to mention how much it hurt to write. Still looking for new OC's and songs to put into this story. The flashback scene was only a prototype of my later story "Shadow Origins", a lovingly desperate tail of how Shadow was created and had lost everything that she so deired. Also, the song used in this chapter was Wait For Me by Rise Against. That's right, I'm not finished using their songs yet. Not much to say rather than review sooooo, review! :D**


	21. Chapter 20 A Final Goodbye

**Great news! From now on, I have just finished my testing! *celebrates*. Now that testing is over, I will be able to update with more ease, and hopefully chapters will begin to get longer and more into detail. Now, on with the story.**

Chapter 20 – A Final Goodbye

Getting into the space pod by himself, a question had suddenly stung Dusk that even he did not know the answer to. "Who was going to stay behind and launch all the space pods by themselves?" The question had stung harder that a queen bee. It was a very risky decision, and that meant that whoever stayed behind was most likely going to end up getting captured and loked away for the rest of their lives due to trying to escape the Ark. Fully locking himself into the space pod, Dusk knew he had to answer the question sooner or later. He knew that it was always more beneficial to do stuff first at hoof so you wouldn't get tangled up in it later on. Speaking up, Dusk had finally gotten the guts to ask his question.

"Um, guys?" Dusk asked, grabbing the attention of everypony in the room. "I have some tragic news to tell you." His voice soon began to get lower as well as quieter.

"W-what is it?" Fluttershy was the first of the group to respond.

"Well, if you haven't already realized, who is going to launch all these space pods?" Dusk began looking down at the bottom of the space pod. "They can't just launch themselves on their own. Somepony has to stay behind and." Dusk took a big gulp before finishing his statement "launch the pods on their own."

"Wait, then that means" Rainbow Dash didn't even get the chance to finish her statement before she was cut off by Dusk.

"Precisely." A more mature and sophisticated Dusk responded. "One of us won't make it out alive."

"But who would be so foolish and considerate enough to sacrifice their own life just to save the lives of countless others?" Raymond had asked the group of ponies.

"I'll do it." A voice rang from the back of the group. "I'll stay behind." The rest of the group had turned their heads to see themselves facing none other than a dark blue unicorn. A few gasps had come from the group as they looked at the unicorn in shock and disbelief.

"No, you can't be serious." Twilight had just come to Thunders aid. She had just been shocked as to what her "friend" had just said. "You just can't be serious!"

"I'm sorry Twi," A low toned Thunder began comforting Twilight. "But if I don't, all of us will have to pay the price. And who knows who will live and who won't?"

"Fine." Twilight said in response to Thunder Ice. She soon began standing her own ground. "Then if you're going to stay while everyone leaves, I will too." Twilight had soon closed her eyes afterward.

"No, Twilight." Thunder turned himself till he was right in front of Twilight. By now, Twilight had her eyes opened right after Thunder had gripped his front two hooves onto Twilights shoulder. "Celestia knows what will happen to you if they capture you. I just can't afford to take that risk. I love you too much for anything like that to happen to you." Looking directly into Twilight eyes, Thunder began speaking again. "I'd never be able to forgive myself if you were to get hurt in anyway." As Thunder Ice was inches away from Twilight, he had said his last words before ending it all. "Just trust me this once." With that, Thunder Ice had leaned in and his lips connected with Twilight. Twilight was taken aback by this sudden event and had her eyes fully open, but over time, she slowly began to close them. She knew that this would probably be their last kiss for who knows how long, so Twilight began savoring it. Every single second of it, and Twilight liked it. Knowing that this would be her final goodbye, Twilight had an urge inside of her and wanted to take this a step further. Ignoring the other ponies around her, she began moving closer to Thunder. Right now, it was just them in their own little world. Right before Twilight could do anything more, Thunder had broken away from her. Apparently he had run out of air. Twilight's first clue to this was because he was breathing heavily after they had disconnected from each other. Regaining enough air again, Thunder Ice had gotten up again and had looked at Twilight's eyes for the last time. "Just trust me this once." He had slowly whispered into Twilights ear. Shedding a slight tear, all Twilight did was nod slowly in a depressed way, confirming that she was ready to give up Thunder Ice for possibly forever. Turning back to the rest of the group of ponies, Thunder Ice had spoken up to the group for one last time. "I'm ready." Was all Thunder said.

From this, the rest of the ponies excluding Dusk since he was already in his own pod, had made their way to their own escape pods. Sealing the glass doors in front of them, Thunder looked around the room to make sure all his friends were ready to leave. Looking at them one by one, he gave them all one final goodbye. Dusk, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity who was still unconscious, Lightning Flash, Snake, Raymond, Rainbow Dash, Strife, Seamus, Blur, and everypony else. All leading up to Twilight. Thunder Ice slowly began trotting over to the control panel on the far side of the room. Everypony began watching as the moment had only become more and more dramatic.

As Thunder reached the switch, he had to stand on his hind two hoofs in order to reach the control panel. What seemed to be on it was one main switch and an array of different green buttons arranged in an ordered pair. Below each button was a number, signalizing which pod it triggered. Scanning around the room, Thunder found that Dusks pod had been the first pod. Knowing this, Thunder had pressed the corresponding button and looked at Dusk for the last time before pulling the trigger. The result of this was Dusks pod being disconnected from the Ark and being pushed by a pusher right beneath the pod. Thunder could see through the stainless glass window that Dusks pod had been flying towards Equestria, where they came from.

Pressing the second button, Thunder found that Fluttershy had been next. Looking back at Fluttershy, Thunder had noticed that Fluttershy had given him a hoof up in response that she was ready. Getting the memo, Thunder had done the same thing as he did to Dusk and had also pulled the trigger, sending Fluttershy flying towards home.

Thunder had repeated what he did for the rest of the ponies. This was until he had reached the last pony, Twilight. Thunder knew that this would be the hardest part of his life, but he had to accept the fact that if you love something , let it go. If it comes back, then it is truly yours. Keeping those words not only in mind, but also heart, Thunder Ice looked at Twilight for the last time and began saying his final goodbyes.

"Well, I guess this is it." Thunder had said with an extremely saddened voice.

"Please, don't do it." Twilight begged Thunder Ice. "We can start over, just the two of us. We can be prisoners in the Ark together forever. I don't care what happens to me just as long as I get to be with you." Twilight was now on the verge of crying.

"I'm sorry, Twi" An extremely depressed Thunder responded. "But I've already made my decision. And there's no changing what's already been made." With that, Thunder Ice had pressed the last available green button, signaling that he was ready to launch Twilights pod. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Thunder Ice turned his head to Twilight for one last time before letting her go forever.

"Remember that I'll be with you no matter what. Love is a powerful thing and I love you more than anything ever put into this world. Promise me you will never forget that." Thunder Ices words flew out of his mouth in smooth, rhythmic beats. All Twilight did was nod her head through the glass. Tears began forming in her eyes as she knew this was the lat time she would ever see him again. Right before Thunder pulled the switch, he had said one final thing to Twilight. "Love you, Twi."

With that, Thunder Ice had pulled the trigger, sending Twilight far on her way all the way to Equestria, where they had started. Knowing that he was all alone now, Thunder Ice had banged his head against the control panel and used his front hoofs to cover around the sides of his face. Thunder had begun crying, knowing that he had lost the one most important thing in the world for him. The one thing that he care dearest for, Twilight.

Suddenly, the loud sound of clopping had come from down the hallways. The sound had begun to get louder and louder until Thunder had heard shouting behind of him.

"There he is, get him!" A guard from behind Thunders back had shouted. After this, two other guards had charged towards Thunder, who was weeping all over the damaged control panel. Thunder didn't seem to care that he would soon be taken prisoner and didn't try at any efforts to try and escape. All he did was stay where he was and would accept his fate. He knew that life couldn't get any worse for him than it had already been. As the two guards got in range of him, they had grabbed his two front hooves from around his face and began pulling him off the control panel.

"Shit!" One of the guards holding Thunders right hoof said. "Umm, sir, you better have a look at this." He said while pointing a hoof to the area to the side where all the space pods used to be.

"What the.." The general of the group looked around the room, shocked that all of the space pods were missing. "Those bastards. Why, if I ever got my hoof on one of those rascals, I'd literally ripe their spine out of their tiny little bodies."

"Well, don't get too angry, boss." The guard holding Thunders left hoof had mentioned. "We at least got one of the ass holes."

"Hm, I think you're right." The boss of the two had said. "And you know what we can do with this," The boss had used his front hoof to examine Thunders chin. "This masterpiece."

"W-what?" One of the guards had asked with fear in his voice.

"We can use this unimportant life form as a, how do you say it," The boss guard began rubbing his forehead. "A type of threat, you know, blackmail."

"Oh." The other guard said aloud, now understanding what the boss was going for. "You want to hold him hostage so we can get the escapes back up here and finally capture them."

"No shit, Sherlock!" The other guard yelled at him. "Wow, you catch on fast." He said to himself. From this, the two guards began arguing to each other. This was until the boss guard had broken them up.

"Come on, you two!" The boss had yelled at the two. "Stallion up and get a move on. We're wasting valuable time. I'm not gonna spent my entire day just watching you two go at it faster than two angry beavers." With that, the boss guard began trotting out of the room, followed by the two guards holding the still weeping Thunder Ice. Just as The guards carrying Thunder left the room, Thunder had mumbled one last thing to himself.

"Be careful, Twilight. I trust you."

**Chapter 20 done. For some reason, my throat is killing me and I had one heck of a day trying to speak in class today. Still looking for new OC and song requests as always. Just to let the people who are reading this know, I know these chapters are kinda short, but for those who actually write fanfictions, they truly know how long it takes. It takes me an entire hour to write around a 1,000 words and each chapter that I write is around 2,000 words. That means I take 2 whole hours out of my day just to write for this story. That's actually a lot since I have to go to school on weekdays for about 8 hours. Also, thanks to DWhay on fanfiction and Dieter N. over at FIMfiction for checking this chapter for any errors or anything. Still, I want you to review for all the hard work I have been doing for the past few weeks. It seriously is a lot of hard work to write a fanfiction.**


	22. Chapter 21 The Distant Future

** Back with new update. Lately, my sore throat hasn't gotten any better and still burns like hell. Still, I am actually surprised how impressive of a story I created. There are already around 10 people who favorite me as an author or just this story individually. That truly makes me feel good inside. Not much to say, so let us begin.**

Chapter 21 – The Distant Future

"Twilight?" The echoing of a voice rang in Twilights head. It had seemed so familiar, yet she didn't know who it really was. "Twilight?" The voice rang again. By this point, Twilight couldn't focus anymore. She had roomed free in her own thoughts. This was until the voice spoke once more.

"TWILIGHT!" The voice yelled. This managed to awake Twilight as she had gotten up in a frenzied state. As she regained consciousness, she looked around at her surroundings to find that she had been in what seemed like a desert filled with ashes. She then realized that she had been in the Everfree prairie, the most beautiful meadow in all of Equestria, or what used to be it. It seemed as if the entire land had been burned to the ground and all that remained was the cold, hard dirt underneath her.

As Twilight rose from the dirt ground, she soon saw that the pony who awoke her had been none other than Pinkie Pie. It actually made sense to her since the voice that had awaked her had been a high-pitched feminine voice. Looking behind her, she saw the escape pods, or what was left of them at least. The pods had crashed to the ground and were half buried into the dirt. While the top and bottom of the pods were made of an extremely rare type of indestructible metal, the sides of the pod were made from regular glass. This resulted in the glass from the pods to be from somewhat to completely shattered. Twilight then realized how the other ponies had made their way out of the pods. They were able to fit through the cracks of the pods.

To Twilight, it appeared that she was the last of them to wake up. Looking around, she saw that the rest of the group was covered in ashes or debris from the collision earlier. What shocked Twilight even more was that she was the only pony who wasn't covered in any sort of dirt or mess or anything. As the thought of dirt hit her mind, the first thing she thought of was Rarity.

"Rarity!" Twilight had screamed to the group, searching for the white unicorn. After shouting her name, Twilight soon hear a response to her statement.

"Right here!" A somewhat British voice emanated from the group. Everypony turned to where the voice had come from to see a Rarity holding up a hoof, signaling that she was indeed alive and conscious again. Although she had been alive, Rarity had also been covered in a mess of dirt and ashes. She had a lot of trouble trying to get the mess off of her what-used-to-be pure white coat.

"Rarity!" Twilight yelled before charging to the white mare. "You're alright!" Twilight exclaimed, hugging Rarity with her front hooves.

"Uh, Twilight." Rarity chirped. "I was here the entire time."

"Oh, he." Twilight chuckled nervously. She had been embarrassed for making a false assumption of her friend. There was a moment of silence between the group before Applejack spoke up.

"Well, now taht we got we got wat we need already, why don't we go ovar to that little varmint Discord and kick his hind end all tah way back tah where he came from?" Applejack had asked the group.

"It isn't as easy as you think." Snake mentioned from the back of the group. Applejack soon turned to him as well as the rest of the group.

"Whadda ya recon you're sayin?" Applejack had asked Snake directly.

"Has it ever came to you mind on where Discord could be at this very second!" Snake yelled at Applejack. "Think of it this way. A creature that represents the element of Disharmony and has the ability to teleport to any location he wished as well as cause chaos to that area! Not to mention the enormous army that we encountered the other day!" Right now, Snake was just inches away from Applejacks own face. "How in Equestria do you think we'll be able to defeat somepony that is nearly invincible no matter what? We still have a lot of work to do before we can get anywhere close to saving Equestria!" Snake began to lose his temper to Applejack, who was right now on the verge of crying.

"Actually, I know a pony that can help us a lot." Blur said from behind Snake. Like before, everypony had turned to face him, even Snake. "Apparently, he's not that far from here. We can reach him in a day's worth of travel."

"Well, who is he?" Twilight had asked, rejoining the conversation again.

"Better left unsaid." A lower-toned Blur had responded. "Ever since I became a guard on the Ark, we began to communicate to each other less and less. It's been years since we've talked to each other and I don't even think he remembers me anymore."

"Where is he then?" Twilight asked again.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure on this, but the last time I recall, I remember him working at a music store on the east side of Manehatten." Blur began rubbing his chin with his front hoof. "I still remember the directions to the store." Looking at the distant sky, Blur found the sun had just risen a few hours ago and was already the strike of noon. "We can make it before nightfall if we leave right now."

"Well then, come on guys." Twilight began taking control of the heard for the fifth time so far. "With Blur as our GPS, we'll be sure to find his friend and then find Discord so we can end this chaos once and for all." With that, Twilight turned to Blur and had asked him the first question on her mind.

"So, where do we start?" Twilight had asked.

"Here, let me take control for once." Blur had put his front hoof onto Twilights shoulder. Twilight had gotten a bit embarrassed by this change of events.

Blur then turned around and began trotting east towards Manehatten, while simultaneously waving his free hoof in the air, signaling for the rest of the group to follow. Their journey had only begun.

/watch?v=TnKDKpuAF04

(paste link in new tab on youtube)

The group of ponies had been in an arrangement of two lines. On one side were all the mares while on the other side were the colts and stallions. For some reason they enjoyed being separated into distinct groups. It gave them more privacy. Apparently, the mane 6 had met a ton of new male ponies, but no new female ponies.

_The city grieves like widows clasping folded flags against their hearts  
Raindrops spill like dirt and roses on black coffins in the dark  
not yet corpses, still we rot, oblivious to our decay  
Drinking poison drop by drop destined to die_

Unless we save our lives from the coming tide  
That seeks to drown us in its waves  
But if we sell our soul for the chance of gold  
Then we'll rue each passing day  


The prairie from a distance had looked no better. Still, everywhere you went, you could see dirt cover the vast land with a mixture of ashes in it.

_And i swear this place once was alive  
The streets all pulsed like living veins  
Heart was beating coarse with blood  
The buildings breathe each time they sway_

The time of death punctuated by the bells  
The sky turned red then came the rain

Come on let's save our lives from the coming tide  
That seeks to drown us in its waves  
But if we sell our soul for the chance of gold  
Then we'll rue each passing day

The group had been traveling for hours now. While some whined on how much their hooves ached, others were persistent enough to keep moving on. Apparently, Blur was one of the ponies who kept on persisting himself to keep moving.__

This world will crush you from the top  
I'd rather die  
I would rather chase them down  


_These worlds are crashing forward  
This time they're sitting blind  
Down, our true fates will be dropped_

Like fallen soldiers on these fields  
We spent our lives  
Bodies holed up on the wheels  
I swear we tried  
I gave up on this godforsaken sight  
And i felt it all pass by  


Nightfall was now just around the corner. While everypony was just about to give up hope, including Blur, they finally saw what looked like civilization in the distance. This brought joy to the entire group, especially Blur, knowing that he would get to see his long-lost friend once more. The group soon began galloping towards what seemed to be Manehatten, forgetting the thought that they were tired.

_Come on let's save our lives from the coming tide  
That seeks to drown us in its waves  
But if we sell our soul for the chance of gold  
Then we'll rue each passing day_

So save our  
Our lives, it's coming clear  
Yeah it's been coming clear to me  
We'll never sell our soul for the chance of gold  
And we'll live each passing day

The town began getting closer and closer to the gang as they desperately charged towards the city. For some odd reason, Rainbow Dahs remembered being told the entire Equestria had been destroyed, but here it was, Manehatten. It had still been standing this whole time.

Getting to the entrance of city, the group could see a large billboard in gleaming letters spelling out the name "MANEHATTEN" in capital letters. Reaching the entrance, the gang began slowing down and resumed trotting as normal. They already had enough trouble for one day; they didn't want to get noticed more by galloping through the upper-crest of Equestria.

Frankly, even though it was nighttime right now, there were a lot of ponies scattered around the city of Manehatten. The group had felt like they were in Canterlot with all the royal mares. Then there were the stallions. Like any other town, the stallions were some rusty, old, beat-up gangsters who loomed the streets in search of other stallions to beat up and mares to hit on. Apparently, none of the ponies in the group had liked Manehatten one bit, especially Rarity.

As the group trotted through the town, with Blur as the leader of the group, Twilight hat galloped up to Blur and began asking him more questions.

"So, how much longer till we reach the shop your friend works in?" Twilight had asked Blur while trotting at the same exact pace at him in order to keep up with him. Every now and then her hooves would get tangled up with one another as she focused on Blurs hooves and movements.

"First of all," Blur began. "He doesn't just work at the shop, he owns it. Second of all," Blur continued. "I haven't been to his shop in years. Thus meaning that I don't know how much longer it will take. All I know is the direction in which it is in. Nothing more, nothing less." With that, Blur began trotting faster through the town.

"Oh, come on!" Twilight began playing with Blur. "You can't be that serious. Sure you guys haven't seen each other in a while, so what? I'm sure you must know more about your friend. You haven't even told us anything in general about him such as his name. How come you keep ignoring me? How come you keep ignoring us? What did we ever do to you to ever deserve this?" Twilight kept on going on and on with her questions. Blur had already been up to here with Twilight already, but now she was just making him loose his sanity. Blur couldn't take it anymore and had put a stop to it once and for all.

Putting a hoof completely in Twilights mouth, Blur had stopped trotting. Everypony else soon stopped also, realizing that their commander had just stopped. All eyes were now on Blur and Twilight as they held up the group.

"Stop." Blur had whispered into Twilights ear. "Just stop. I try to be a decent, civilized pony, but you always find a way to push me to my limit and that's what gets me all worked up. And for what, nothing? Next time you ask a question, think about it first." With that, Blur had removed his hoof from Twilights mouth and resumed trotting down the streets of Manehatten, the group following close by.

As everypony left, Twilight was the only one in the back. She had recalled what Blur had just said to her moments ago. "Am I really that annoying?" Twilight had asked herself quietly. "Am I really that useless in life?" Getting back up on all four hoofs, Twilight slowly began trotting towards the group already in front of her, with her head hung low the entire time.

"I miss you, Thunder Ice."

**Chapter 21 is now all clear. I have actually done a lot of hard work for this story and I would like a thank you gift from all of you reading this by reviewing. Still looking for new OC's and new songs too. The song used in this chapter was Dirt and Roses by Rise Against. This song happened to be in the Marvel Avengers album that was just posted onto YouTube around 3 days ago. It actually happened to be the only Rise Against song on the album sadly. The first time I heard the on, the first thing I thought was how would I be able to interpret this song into this story, and after a few hours of thinking, this chapter got produced. I now tip my hat off to Dieter N. again over at FIMfiction for checking and editing this chapter.** **One last thing before I go and that is…. review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review! (I can keep going if you want.)**


	23. Chapter 22 Reunions with a Friend

**Back with another update! Right now, I feel tired as buck and can't keep my eyes open any longer. My arm has been cut off and my leg is bent the wrong way. I'm losing blood fast. I already lost an eye and five teeth. My nose is nearly broken. NEED DOCTOR BADLY! (The rest of the writing is obscured in blood) Ha! I was just bored so I decided to type that. What I just wrote was a reference from a certain video game and kudos to you if you got what video game it was. Post a reply if you know what game it's from. Now, without further ado, we shal begin.**

Chapter 22 – Reunions with a Friend

The unfortunate and mismatched group headed into the city, unaware of the true decay the metropolis had underwent in the absence of order. The buildings were shells of brick and ash, mostly a husk of mortar and foundation to protect against the elements. Not that many ponies seemed to need it, as Twilight and her gang walked down the sidewalks of Manehtatten there was nopony to be seen, living or dead. The streets were filled with ash, dust and a sort of sand-like semi-solid that crunched under their hooves as they moved farther into the former party capitol of the world. They all moved n almost military like fashion, disciplined and precise. As much as she hated to be the odd mare out, Pinkie was breaking ranks and hopping in her usual cheery manner. Although they all shot her looks, she just kept hopping like a madmare, completely oblivious to their sideways glares.

They walked in two lines; one side had mares and the other colts or stallions. Seamus, being himself, walked on the mares' side for some unknown reason. After a quick glance at the surrounding buildings, Blur began to lead in into an alleyway. It was cramped and not the most spacious, but just as soon as they managed to get in all together, the company was met by a brick wall.

"What the buck?" Blur cursed, completely confused. "It was right here?"

A pony appeared at the end of the alleyway, specifically a brown earth pony with an hourglass Cutie Mark. He had on his head a fez and around his neck a brilliant blue scarf. He looked at them with a smile, but his eyes concealed a great wisdom and an even greater sadness. But the stallion's face was of mirth as he trotted up to the strange company of misfits.

"Is here there or is when simply here at the moment?" He asked, arching a brow as he grinned.

Blur was lost. This stallion was obviously insane. "Umm… we were just looking for this store. It's a music store and we really need to-"

"Is it this fine establishment?" He interrupted, glancing at the brick wall.

"Well… no. We were looking for a shop." Twilight asked, trying to be patient with the stranger.

"This is a shop, my dear." He responded.

"No, this is a wall." Twilight said, irritated.

At just that moment she made the decision to put her hoof to that wall. Her hoof slipped right through the illusion and she nearly toppled over. The stranger smiled and tipped his fez to her knowingly.

"If you need me, I'll be trying to solve this whole mess." The stranger bade farewell.

"Wait!" Twilight interrupted. "Who are you?"

"I've got a lot of names, m'dear. But the one your kind have taken a liking to is Doctor Whooves, so I stick with that. Farewell!"

They were all turning to step through the cleverly crafted illusion when he came back around the corner. "Oh, and if you see any statues trying to cover their eyes… don't blink, just teleport away as fast as possible. Okay, bye" With that cryptic message, he was finally gone.

They all looked at each other, shrugged, and stepped through the illusion.

* * *

DJ Fiiasco nodded his head to his music, the loud beat booming over the speakers. His store had the feel of an eighties bogey hall with the new groove of a modern day Aria. The store was completely white and carpeted, the walls were white and the only difference or contrast in the room was created by the lighting. He was closed, for the most part. He had been since things started to fall apart. Ponies wanting radio equipment barging in with guns, insisting that he would be "Helping the people." buck that. He'd hired a wizard to put up the illusion and had secluded himself. He was fine as long as he had his music..

The entire store was covered in speakers and bass. Some of them hung from the ceiling and some were built into the walls for bass effect. He listened to the beat, his green and black mane standing out from the white backdrop of the room. The pegasus DJ had a record on his flank being split in half, he always thought that his beats were too sick to be put on records anyway. He nodded his head to the beat, making his mane fly and his sunglasses almost fall off his face.

"Eh hem." Blur interrupted him.

The DJ stopped his jam session and smiled at the former guard. "Well, well! If it isn't the Blur himself! Haven't seen ya' in awhile!" The two lost friends embraced.

After they had released each other, Blur continued. "Well… I hate to visit like this, but I need to ask you a huge favor."

The pegasus narrowed his eyes and lowered his sunglasses, revealing startling red eyes. "You just got here, chill. I've got rations in the back and tons of fresh water and an unlimited purifier for it. You can stay as long as ya' like."

"I know, and that's great, but I need you to tell me where that one castle is?"

"What castle?" Fiiasco had asked his long lost friend.

"Heh" Blur had sighed before resuming his sentence. "Do you remember where Mystic Cauldron is by any chance.? Cause I was hoping you can lead us-"

"No." Fiiasco responded. "Just no. We went there once when we were foals and nearly got killed. I don't want to even think about it. Stay here, but I won't let you go there ever again."

"Misphit please?" Blur begged. "I'm asking you a huge favor and if you could just help me this once I-"

"I said no!" The DJ pushed past him and cantered to the back of the store. He was light on his hooves, agile.

Blur began to run after him, but was caught by Twilight yanking on his tail. She shook her head and moved to pass him, but soon somepony new stepped forward. Seamus the alicorn, shy little Seamus was stepping up to plate. The maroon coated colt shuffled up to the pegasus, trying not to alarm the DJ as he crept close, after a whole minutes waiting they all let out their held breathe as the colt tapped the stallion on the shoulder. The DJ looked down and reeled at Seamus.

"Are you an alicorn? Holy buck!" He cursed in shock and slight admiration. "Wow… I never thought I'd see one up close…"

Seamus blushed intensely at the amount of attention he was receiving, but kept went on. "Um… hi. I'm Seamus and… well… we really need you to show us where the castle is."

"Kid, I like you, you're cute." Seamus turned a shade of scarlet under his coat. "But I swore I would never go near that death trap again. It's not that I don't like you, I do." The alicorn nearly fainted. "It's just that I don't… I… the last time I was there I nearly got killed. I was kind of scarred for life, I don't want any déjà vu!"

Seamus scuffed a hoof and held his breathe for a few seconds. He thought he knew something to get him to agree, but he was hesitant. At last he sighed and leaned close to the DJ.

The rest of them looked on curiously as Seamus whispered into Fiiasco's ear. Soon, though, the alicorn leaned away and the DJ let out his held breathe. The pegasus straightened his sunglasses and strode over to them. He strode with purpose and pride, his laid back manner gone and all lightness absent as he spoke.

"I'll help you guys. And mares, but I want to see that I get a good time out of this! It's better be a real adventure!"

AppleJack nearly toppled over. "How the hay did that colt do that? He was completely against it one moment and the next he's all for it! It don't make sense…."

Blur just shrugged. "Whatever gets him to show me the way to the castle."

"You don't seem all that excited." Twilight broke in. "You sound like you'd rather be gagging on a spoon."

"It's not that… he's just… changed. That's all." The former guard denied.

"Well." Snake said. "No use standing around! Let's make tracks!"

* * *

The new group walked on as they moved out of the city and into grassy clearings. The nature, for one, was one of the few things affected by the world falling apart. The few places the ground fell to ash had grass roots already rushing to fill the space with cushy green flora. Nothing stopped the bunnies and birds from flitting and hopping about. Despite all the chaos, there was one thing that trumped all of that. Nature, she was already taking over the city itself. The buildings already had vines creeping through the cracks in the cement and the animals were already feeding on grass splitting up the sidewalks. They had even passed a tree trolling in the middle of an intersection.

So the newly formed group walked in a slightly less formal line this time. Seamus and Fiiasco stood at the front, conversing in hushed voices, keeping their conversation private. Twilight eyed the two suspiciously. The two were just suddenly great friends? There was no way. She had to get to the bottom of this. The nosy mare tapped Snake on the shoulder, eager to eavesdrop.

"Snake, there's a grove of trees up ahead, I need you to spy in on their conversation by climbing the trees above them."

"Or." He suggested in his rough, gravelly voice. "I could just do this."

He pulled a bean-sized microphone out from behind his ear. With a flick he landed the spying device on Fiiasco's mane. With a swift movement, he grabbed her head and jammed the receiver into her ear.

"There. Don't go asking me for any more favors, though."

She listened eagerly, biting her lip with anticipation.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I did once have a friend like that." Fiiasco began. "He was Hurricane Splitter, and I wish I still knew him. He just got so… different. I don't get it."

Seamus nodded sympathetically. "I don't know how that feels, but I can imagine. My friend like that was a pony named Sky. Well, he went by Sky. His real name is Indigo Sunset, but he decided to just switch it to Sky. I still call him that sometimes, he gets to mad at me! I just nod along and laugh on the inside…"

The DJ laughed. "Yeah, I did that sometimes too. He realized it was useless and well, he just started to punch my shoulder every time I bugged him. I still feel the bruise."

"Sky never hit me, he was very nice and poetic. He always made me these little trinkets of gold and paper, sometimes he tried on things he made himself and I'd nearly drool… he was awesome at fashion. He was just so…."

"Perfect?"

"Well, yeah."

"I know…"

Twilight ripped her earphone out. This was just colt-coddling whish-wash! She thought it was something serious that would change something! She decided that it would be best to just forget about it. She tosses the earpiece back to Snake and rolls her eyes. There had to be something to do on this ridiculously long trek. She suddenly remembered that there was, in fact nothing to do. It was just miles and miles of landscape that seemed to stretch on forever. She taps her hoof, clacking it with each fall and marching to pass the time. It was quite useless. The boredom was mind-numbing and her hooves soon began to hurt severely.

Seamus and Fiiasco continued their talk, ignoring the usual rustle in the bushes or shadow overhead. Wait? Shadows overhead? The sun was setting swiftly and darkness crept upon the ponies. A sudden chill ran down Twilight's spine as the moon ascended onto the horizon. Something was wrong. The whole company stopped. The sounds of nature had come to an abrupt halt. Nothing moved. Nothing made any noise. Nothing…

Until a certain, strangely fanciful, sophisticated voice broke the smothering silence with his voice, like the ring of a thousand church bells, the plucking of an angel's lute or the plucking of a harp with delicate hooves…

"Well… you seem to be wandering where you don't belong." Jakben chuckled. "Should I correct that?"

He appeared to them, his long blonde mane gleaming in the moonlight. He smiled, his sanguine eyes and razor sharp fangs shining in the starlight. He was beautiful in a carnal, animalistic way. He was the one for somepony who like power. He oozed power, control. He was the purest form of control and perfection. He stretched his deep gray wings, prompting a hush to fall on them.

"You need to leave. Now. All of you." He ordered.

"And what the buck will you do about it?" Snake growled, reaching for his knife.

The vampire was suddenly _**there , **_he grabbed the knife and bent it like it was softer then bread dough. The vampire flicked it into the bushes, un-amused. Twilight wanted to try at a spell, but she had no idea what would happen. That was what terrified her so much. She had _**no idea **_what he was capable of. That was the thing that terrified them all. They couldn't even begin to describe the cloud of mystery that surrounded the vampiric pegasus. He appeared beside Twilight, smiling._**He ran a hoof down her neck and brushed her mane out of her face.**_

"_**Well… it seems." He whispered. "My little study buddy has gotten a bit more…" He was suddenly behind her, running his hooves over her smooth waist. "Thinner. More muscular…" He slipped his hooves to her tail, brushing it with his cold, undead hooves. He leaned over her and whispered. "I like it. Keep it up. Run to the ends of the earth and beyond, I will find you, my sweet."**_

_**She froze and tried to not panic… but his hooves kept slipping up her leg… he was petting her flanks now…**_

"Enough!" Snake screamed and ran at the vampire.

As with last time, he disappeared, nothing moved until he appeared behind the war veteran. The stallion roared and sent an uppercut right to the vampire's jaw. Jakben had let him. He wanted to make a point. There are just certain times, no matter how good you are, that you are out-classed and out-gunned. The stallion yowled in fury and pain as his hoof splintered and his ankle shattered.

"I've had my fun, for now." He chuckled. "Turn back, last warning… or I'll be seeing you alone, study buddy."

He had just disappeared when Twilight broke into tears again, sobbing on the ground. Blur knelt by her while she cried. It was a sad sight, to see such a strong, intelligent mare reduced to misery because of one stallion. One vampiric, extremely provocative and deadly stallion.

"He… there was nothing I could do…" Twi sputtered.

Blur had just patted her back when suddenly Rainbow flew down from the sky and said.

"Hey guys, we're coming up on some sort of castle. Except it's more like a fortress and let me guess we have to somehow get in?"

Blur nodded. This was where the shit hit the fan and things were going to get real. Time to march to the castle.

**Done with another chapter. Now, I know what you might be thinking right now is "How the world did this guy get the ability to write overnight." And let me start off by saying I DID NOT WRITE THIS! It was actually written by a good friend of mine, DWhay! He's the author of the characters Seamus and Jakben (as mentioned before) . While he was writing this, I was writing chapter 3 of Everfree Nights (search that title up). We decided to swich chapters since we got bored of our own stories. This was a one-time experience and probably won't happen again. Also, I have GREAT news! This story is getting a YOUTUBE READING. Another two good friends of mine, ****DjFiiasco** **and Dieter N. have been organizing a youtube reading for the story. The first chapter can be found here: ****/watch?v=q23Z6PXPkpc****. Watch it and post as many comments as you like. Now, I'm out! REVIEWS ARE MY FOOD! FEED ME!**


	24. Chapter 23 A Terrifying Past

**I'm here with a new update, and trust me, I wrote this chapter! There was a lot of stir-up and confusion in the last chapter, so I'll try and make this chapter a little more basic. Luckily, I've finally come to my own senses and have now realized to where this story is really going. Before I just played with words and made up stuff as I wrote, but now I really know what I'm aiming for. With that, let's begin.**

Chapter 23 – A Terrifying Past

Dawn broke over the horizon as light soon infiltrated the depths of the night sky. Right now, the group of ponies had been marching for countless days in the search of the spirit of chaos and disharmony, Discord.  
"Well, here we are." DJ Fiiasco said while gulping loud enough for everypony around him to hear. He had been standing right in front of the haunted castle currently referred to as Mystic Cauldron. The place was simply deplorable. The walls were made from a thick cut stone blocks the size of a large steamer truck. Moss grew in the space between the blocks, a sign the place hasn't been taken care off in decades. The castle grounds were split into two partitions. On the Inside held the castle base itself while the outside conjured fence of rought iron with a steel entrance gate. As awkward as it sounds, the gate's steel had been stainless, thus, no rust would be present upon it's surfaces.  
Being the brave and courageous one, Rainbow Dash flew out in front of the group and made a quick descent while still facing the castle. Turning back to DJ Fiiasco, Rainbow had asked her first question.  
"This place doesn't seem so bad." Rainbows rough voice flowing through the cool breeze of the morning air. "What makes it so scary in the first place?" Dash tilted her head to the side in curiosity.  
"Heh." DJ Fiiasco sighed, looking down at the ground. "It's been a long while ago." DJ Fiiasco had crouched down until he sat on the dirt ground. While his front two hooves had been extended fully, his hind legs had been bent in a fashion to allow him to sit down. Everypony soon began gathering around him and once settled at a comfortable range, DJ Fiiasco began to tell his story.  
"Back in the day, when I was just a colt." DJ Fiiasco began his story.

/watch?v=mdJDPepGOAM  
(paste link in new tab on youtube)

"I'd been given the opportunity by an upper-class music company on train and perform with them. I knew I was a good DJ, but I didn't know I was that good. The invitation sent to me had an address and everything, but no signature. At first I was puzzled, but after a while of deep consideration, I decided to go and give it a shot. Saying goodbye to my family wasn't at all easy, let me tell you, but I knew that if I didn't, my future dreams would be corrupted." DJ Fiiasco inhaled deeply before continuing. "I followed the address printed on the letter for days. It had been hours of traveling. I was more tired than ever and hungry too. Just as I was about to give up, I found what seemed to be a large castle in front of me. "DJ Fiiasco said, pointing a hoof towards the castle. "I checked the address more than once and soon realized that I had made it to my destination, that I had made it to what would be my worst nightmare itself."  
_  
No matter how many times that you told me you wanted to leave  
No matter how many breaths that you took, you still couldn't breathe  
No matter how many nights that you lie wide awake to the sound of the poison rain  
Where did you go? Where did you go? Where did you go?  
As days go by, the night's on fire_

Tell me would you kill to save a life?  
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?  
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn  
This hurricane's chasing us all underground  
  
"Reaching the castle, I rushed in before anypony saw me enter the building." DJ Fiiasco added. "If I knew what was going to happen next, I'd never have entered that castle in the first place."  
_  
No matter how many deaths that I die I will never forget  
No matter how many lives that I live, I will never regret  
There is a fire inside of this heart  
And a riot about to explode into flames  
Where is your God? Where is your God? Where is your God?_

"I began trotting along the long, luxurious castle hallways." DJ Fiiasco said as the memory of those hallways began playing on his mind's flashback TV. "The walls were covered with royal framed pictures such as the Pony Lisa. What I thought would be a calm environment had soon sent chills up my own spine as I heard screaming coming from down the hallway. The last time I recalled, they said something like this:"  
_  
Do you really want...  
Do you really want me?  
Do you really want me dead,  
Or alive to torture for my sins?  
Do you really want...  
Do you really want me?  
Do you really want me dead,  
Or alive to live a lie?_

Tell me would you kill to save a life?  
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?  
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn  
This hurricane's chasing us all underground

"I followed the screams down the hall until I had reached a thick wooden door at the end of the hallway." DJ Fiiasco mentioned. "The door had been slightly opened, so I decided to take a peek inside. What I witnessed in there has never let me look at the world the same again."

_The promises we made were not enough (Never play the game again)  
The prayers that we have prayed were like a drug (Never gonna hit the fear)  
The secrets that we sold were never known (Never sing a song for you)  
The love we had, the love we had, we had to let it go.  
(Never giving in again, Never giving in again)_

Tell me would you kill to save a life?  
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?  
Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn  
This hurricane's chasing us all underground

"What I saw was a grey stallion strapped to what seemed to be an electric chair, although it wasn't plugged in. I then saw a red mare right in front of the stallion. She was face to face with, mumbling some words to the stallion I couldn't make out. The stallion had just closed his eyes and refused to say anything. The result of this was the mare saying a few words and grabbing a jewel encrusted bronze cup into her mouth. The stallion had opened his eyes for just a few seconds, but quickly regretted it afterwards."  
"W-what happened?" Rainbow Dash said, tripping over her own words.  
DJ Fiiasco let out a sigh before continuing. "The mare had aimed the cup towards the stallions eyes, causing the ruby red liquid inside it to become air-borne, heading straight to his eyes. The substance collided with the stallion's eyes, causing him to scream loudly. He screamed out something like 'I'LL KILL YOU, YOU **'. When I thought it couldn't get any worse, it suddenly did."  
"The body of the stallion began growing taller and limper." DJ Fiiasco continued his narrative. "His color had turned somewhat tan and his eyes began to bleeding violently. Soon, the straps on the chair wasn't enough to hold him down and he broke free."

_Do you really want...  
Do you really want me?  
Do you really want me dead,  
Or alive to torture for my sins?_

Do you really want...  
Do you really want me?  
Do you really want me dead,  
Or alive to live a lie?

"Then what?" Strife had asked in a calm voice.

"Well, that's all I saw, actually." DJ Fiiasco answered. "Up until that part, I began freaking out and knew that I had to get out of there before that...that DEVIL MARE could get her dirty little hooves on me. I ran as hard and fast as I could down the hallway. Right as I reached the exit of the castle, I heard more screaming, but was too scared to even go back. So I opened the doors and galloped out of the castle. I kept on galloping through the exact same path I took till I reached home. Until this day, I still have visions of that haunting memory of my past."

"Visions?" Rarity questioned

"Yeah, visions." DJ Fiiasco responded, looking Rarity right in her eyes. "You know, images, daydreams, all that kind of stuff."

"Now I understand why you are so afraid to even step a hoof into that castle." Twilight said in realization. "Because of what you saw it there."

"You couldn't be any more corrector." DJ Fiiasco added to Twilights previous statement.

"But still." Rainbow Dash explained. "You have ponies like us that will protect you. We'll be there right by your side every step of the way. What's there to fear with the power of friendship by your side?"

"Well, I guess you're right." DJ Fiiasco confirmed "I'll come, but I just can't help having this feeling that the monster I encountered earlier will show up somewhere in there. It just plain bugs me. But, like you said before," He turned to Rainbow Dash. "What's there to fear with the power of friendship?"

"Yeah, that's my stallion!" Rainbow Dash dove towards DJ Fiiasco and gave him a hoof-five. Once they hoof-five each other, Rainbow had lent a hoof to DJ Fiiasco and he greatly accepted it with pride and dignity.

Once everypony had gotten up off of the ground, DJ Fiiasco began looking at the castle behind him once more. The sun had been right overhead of the group, which was a good thing since it would supply light for the dimly lit castle.

"Come on, Fiiasco." Twilight approached the Pegasus, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "It's time to go. We can either do this now, or we can do this never."

"I'm ready." Was all DJ Fiiasco needed to say. He began trotting to the metallic walls outside of the stone-block castle, the rest of the group following close behind. As they made it to the entrance of the gate, DJ Fiiasco could see It had been set under lock and key. The rest of the group soon realized this too after catching up with him.

"Well, that's just great." Snake had said from the back of the group. "We make it this far all for nothing."

"Ah think ah can find a wah around dis here lock." Applejack exclaimed, trotting to the front of the group. Once she was in front of the lock, she lined up her back legs with it and kicked as if she was bucking an apple tree. "WHAM!" Blurted Lightning Flash just as her kick impacted the lock. The result was the lock shattering under the large amount of pressure exerted from Applejack's bucking kick

"What! How did you-?" Snake was now at a loss for words. He thought the stallions were the strong, aggressive type, but here he was, standing right in front of a mare who could literally shatter a lock.

"Years of applebuckin" Applejack said in a voice that was higher than usual. She rarely enjoyed gloating, but this was one of the very few times that she actually found interest in doing so.

Once the lock had broken, DJ Fiiasco had pushed against the gate doors with his front hooves and to his surprise, it had opened. Stepping inside the gate, the group could get a better view of the outside of the castle. Walking towards the front doors of the castle, DJ Fiiasco felt a large tingle inside his body. This warned him that something bad was going to occur soon once inside the was something he couldn't put his hoof on….yet.

**Done with another chapter. I can assure you again that I wrote this chapter. Still looking for new OC's and songs too. The song used in this chapter was Hurricane by Thirty Seconds to Mars. I'm now starting to use another new band too. Also, if any of you have ever played the game Amnesia, you can really relate to this chapter. It took me forever to beat that game and it really scared the hay out of me, so I decided to add a few references from it. Thanks again to DWhay, Lightning Flash, and DieterN. For checking for errors! I don't have time to do this, so jut review!**


	25. Chapter 24 Mystic Cauldron

**Back with another update and all that junk. I don't really think I have to say a ton in my intros, so I prefer we just begin with the next chapter…**

Chapter 24 – Mystic Cauldron

The door to the castle creaked open as a loud creaking sound was emanated into the hallways. As the door had been slowly opened, the group of ponies had slivered their way in through the more than heavy stone doors. They weren't able to keep it open for long, so everypony had to rush through the tight gap.

Once eveypony was inside, Blur, who had been holding the door with all his might from the inside had released his grasp onto the door, causing it to fall back to its regular, closed state. A loud crashing sound was soon heard afterwards after the gang had been full insulated inside the castle corridors.

Taking the time to look around, all anypony could see was the darkness of the hallway in front of them. Apparently, even though it was the brightest time of the day, the heavily built castle was designed to keep every single inch of natural light out of the castle itself. The only light source happened to be a few dimly lit candles implanted onto solid gold stands attached to the walls of the hallway. The floor had also been covered with a thick, furry, red-ruby carpet resembling to one found at an awards ceremony. The walls held all sorts of different paintings. While some were reasonable and sophisticated, others just screamed the feeling of being terrified.

"W-what is t-this place?" Applejack was the first to ask, tripping over her own words.

"I tried to warn you guys, but you chose not to listen." DJ Fiiasco had mentioned. "I told you this place was enchanted. Think of it like the Everfree forest, only twenty times worse." DJ Fiiasco began to sigh. "Celestia knows what evil demons lurk around this god-for-saken castle. I still have visions of this place, but I never knew that my visions would lead me into my own nightmares!" DJ Fiiasco soon began breathing heavily, starting to hyperventilating. Rarity had been the first to take immediate action to this sudden turn of events.

"Now listen here." Rarity began patting a hoof onto DJ Fiiasco's shoulder. "I know this place can be more than just scary." She said, looking around at the disturbing paintings hung onto the wall. "But just remember this. No matter where you are, we'll be here, right by your side. There's nothing you can't overcome with the power of friendship"

"Easy for you to say." DJ Fiasco responded, looking back up at the white mare. His hyperventilating had soon lessened afterwards. "You weren't mentally scarred by this place. You didn't see what I saw. You didn't lie awake at night thinking what would happen if you were to be found by that dirty devil! You didn't experience the pain and suffering I did after that excruciating moment. I wasn't able to sleep for weeks with all those visions in my head! Do you even know how much stress lack of sleep produces!" DJ Fiiasco had screamed into Rarity's face.

Rarity had been hurt by DJ Fiiasco having yelled into her face. The result of this was her sobbing loudly for everypony to here. She had made her way to the back of the group so nopony would hear her cry.

"Dude, what was that for?" Blur had shot to the DJ pony.

"Hey." DJ Fiiasco shot back. "She started it. I was all calm until.." He never got a chance to finish his sentence.

The noise of an ominous voice soon rang through the hallway, startling everypony as it bounced off the hallway walls.

_Why did this happen?_

It echoed down the dark hallway until it had reached the darkness of what was the end of the hallway. Everypony had been startled by this, even Raymond.

"Holy Shit!" Snake was the first of the group to speak. "What the hell was that?"

"I think I might know." DJ Fiiasco had said. Everypony had turned their attention back to him again.

"Well, who is it?" Seamus asked from the back of the group.

"Huh." DJ Fiiasco sighed again. "I don't know much about him, but they call him Alois. He's supposed to be the combination of the beauty of life mixed in with the darkness of death. No mortal would ever dream nor dare encounter such a beast. For if they were to make such a foolish mistake as to do so, their life would be at a great risk."

"W-why?" Strife had asked.

"Well for one, He is known as one of the fastest creatures to ever set foot onto Equestria. He can chase a Wonderbolt and be able to catch up with them. Second," DJ Fiiasco continued. "He is able to detect motion and vibrations produced by sound within a radius of over a mile. Thus meaning he will be able to locate you no matter what. And finally, Celestia knows what he will do to you if he finds you."

"Wait!" Lightning stopped DJ Fiiasco dead in his tracks. "How do you know all of this?"

"Curiosity, my dear friend." DJ Fiiasco replied. "Ever since I saw that horrifying scene with the mutated pony, my curiosity began acting up. I began searching the causes and effects of poison and found a potion called 'Death's Lullaby'. It was mentioned to be this mighty and powerful mixture composed of the rarest fire berries in all of Equestria. The mixture is strong enough to put an entire Cyclops to sleep." DJ Fiiasco continued. "Apparently, the mixtures results depends on where it is placed. Last time I recalled, drinking it kills you, inhaling it gives you amnesia, pouring it on your hoofs results in you loosing connection with them, pouring it on your mane or tail ends up burning every last hair on your body, and squirting it into the eyes causes your insides to literally recreate themselves. What that means is you are recreated into this somewhat large demon with intense hearing and speed. Although I know them and know what they do, the name of the species has completely slipped my mind."

As DJ Fiiasco finished his speech, the sound of the mysterious voice had ringed through the hallways once more.

_Is that you, my love?_

_I know it's you._

_I won't lose you again._

"Damn, we've been detected!" DJ Fiiasco cleared his throat. "We have to get a move on before Alois catches up with us." With that, DJ Fiiasco had gotten back up on all four hooves and began trotting down the dark hallway. If anypony knew the castle inside and out, it was DJ Fiiasco. The rest of the group wasn't one to just deny him, so they began trotting down the hallway along with him.

The hallways had been a narrow path along the inside of the castle. The farther the group went, the darker it got. They had soon reached a point to where nopony could see anything anymore.

All of a sudden, a loud groaning sound echoed through the hallways, once again startling the group.

"QUCIK! IN HERE!" DJ Fiiasco yelled over the loud groaning sound. The group turned their heads to see DJ Fiiasco had been holding open a door leading in to what seemed to be another hallway, only this one had light in it.

The gang had rushed through the doorway while DJ Fiiasco was holding it. Once evereypony had gotten through, he had closed the door behind himself as he made a quick dash trough into the second hallway.

The second hallway had appeared differently than the first. For starters, the material of the hallway was made out of solid stone, unlike the previous one which had been crafted out of hard wood. Looking down, the group could see no carpet below them. The only thing that could be found was just the smoothness of the cold hard floor, which also happened to be molded out of stone. While side held the dullness of the stone wall, the opposing side was crafted with a mixture of stone with glass here and there. The glass had been placed as windows overlooking the outside world. Light had been able to flood into the hallways, allowing the gang to see their surroundings. Awkward enough, there were no paintings of any sorts hanging up onto the wall. All that could be found were a couple of wooden chairs and vases literally thrown over to the side. What scared the gang the most was a small trail of blood leading down the hallway. Now and there were little droplets of blood that had dried onto the cold, hard stone floor.

"No time for sightseeing. You heard the boss, move!" Snake shouted over the group. He began galloping down the somewhat bright hallway, the rest of the gang following behind him. Apparently, Snake had been the new group leader rather than DJ Fiiasco.

Charging down the hallway, Snake could see that the blood tracks began to lessen more and more. He began to gallop even faster down the blood tracks imprinted onto the stone hallway. This was until he was stopped at a dead end of the hallway. He had looked up to find a corpse of what seemed to be an earth pony thrown against the edge of the wall. Its head had been severely separated from its body itself and its spine had been showing completely. A few veins had still been connected to the body and head, but most had already been either cut or ripped out. A gargantuan puddle of blood lay near to where the incision had been implanted onto the poor earth pony.

As the rest of the group had caught up with Snake, they soon noticed what he had been looking at the entire times. A few screams from the mares of the group were soon heard afterward as they saw the disturbing image in front of them.

Suddenly, more groaning was heard through the hallway as it traveled through the entire castle. For some odd reason, this time the groaning had been louder than usual. As the group turned around to see what the sound had come from, they couldn't even believe their eyes.

/watch?v=WlVNKl3IdQA&feature=relmfu

(copy and paste in new tab on youtube)

A somewhat like zombie-pony had been charging towards them, only this was no regular zombie-pony. This particular zombie-pony had a coat of what seemed to be a tannish grey and his coat had been more of a leather type than a type of hide. He also didn't have any hair on top of his head or coming out of his flank. Where his cutie mark should have been had been left blank. His height had been slightly bigger than the average stallion, sort of like the size of Big Macintosh. His legs had been a little higher and longer also. Around his neck was what seemed to be a wheel of a wagon. It had been thin and the center fit over his neck barely. The wheel had been badly rusted and had been greatly damaged as well. What was the most disturbing about him was that his jaw had been extended to a tremendous amount downward, causing his lower lip to sink all the way to where the lower tip of his chest was. As he galloped, his lip swayed back and forth from the movements of his body. His eyes also had resembled of those to Derpy Hooves. His eyes had been somewhat cross-eyed and while one was ponied onto the group, the other had been floating around, starring at all different sorts of directions.

What scared the group of ponies the most was that he was charging directly towards the group who had been cornered in the dead-end of the stone hallway. Some of the ponies began screaming and crying as the enemy briskly galloped towards them. Snake had noticed that the enemy had been one hell of a fast runner seeing that he had been building speed even after galloping for thirty seconds.

Dusk had been feeling fear in his body this entire time, but that was until he saw something that he didn't understand; Something with Fluttershy. Turning to her, he noticed that the yellow mare had her head down faced at the floor with her eyes closed. Her hooves had been spread out slightly as she began scratching at the stone ground with her front hoof. Dusk just stood in shock as Fluttershy had begun going through changes.

Fluttershy felt pain all through her body as she had filled up with rage, pure rage. Her hair had grown what seemed to be a black haired extension in her luscious pink mane. The same with her tail as an extension grew as well. Slight fangs had grown on the sides of her teeth as she had opened her mouth. It had seemed to Dusk as if she had been turning into some type of vampire, or that's what he thought, at least.

Moving on, her yellow wings had extended fully into the air as if a magic trick, the feathers on her wings had suddenly disappeared as if they were plucked off. The yellow feathers fell to the ground as Dusk noticed that a knife-like type of wings replace her usual feathered wings. The tips of the wings had been crafted to be as sharp as knives themselves.

What used to be a cutie mark of three pink cutie marks had also vanished into thin air. What had replaced it was what seemed to be a blood-spear cutie mark implanted onto her flank. As Fluttershy had opened her eyes, Dusk could see that she no longer had those green emerald eyes that he loved about her, rater she now had deep red eyes filled with hate and despair in them.

Soon everypony had taken their eyes off of the zombie-pony charging after them and had looked back at Fluttershy, who to their surprise had been completely transformed and was now a whole new pony. A sudden whisper was soon emanated from Dusk's lips as he gazed upon the new pony creation.

"Shadow." He had said to himself. He knew what had happened to Fluttershy and had known that this would happen to her one day, that she would turn into the immortal and indestructible life form currently known to this day as Shadow.

As Shadow had gotten up on all four hooves again, she lifted her head up till it was aiming directly at the zombie-pony charging towards the group. Right now, the enemy had been nearly inches away from the gang as he closed in onto the group. This would have been true and everypony would have been doomed if it weren't for one pony, and that pony was none other than Shadow.

Shadow had charged head first into the zombie-pony, resulting in it tackling backwards. The two shook in circles for a while before resuming to a stable state. It turns out that Shadow had pinned the zombie-pony to the ground. As the zombie-pony shook in hopes of trying to escape the mares tight grip, he had lifted his head from the stone ground and began screaming into Shadows own face.

The scream had been an ear-piercing scream, causing Shadow as well as everypony else to stumble backwards. Sadly, Shadow had lost her grip onto the zombie-pony and he had managed to escape her.

Getting back up onto all four hooves, the zombie-pony had regained his balance and looked at Shadow with both eyes this time. As Shadow stumbled back, she looked at her enemy with hate in her eyes and had charged at the zombie-pony for a second time. The result of this was the zombie-pony grabbing Shadow around the arms and waist and began hoisting her up. The zombie-pony had stood on his bottom two hoofs as he began clawing at Shadows soft hide. Dusk had been aggressed by this and began charging to the already distracted zombie-pony. The result of this was Dusk colliding in face first with the zombie-pony, managing for him to release his grip onto Shadow.

As Shadow had been released from the zombie-pony's grip, she had fallen to the ground. On the other hoof, the zombie-pony had been knocked into the stone side of the hallway along with Dusk. Colliding into the dense stone wall, the zombie-pony had scraped his back against the rough wall. Getting back up on all four hooves again, the zombie-pony found his entire back had been scratched against the wall after feeling a sharp pain along his back. The zombie-pony soon realized that if he stayed where he was now, he would get mauled by the rest of the group. Keeping this in mind, the zombie-pony had quickly turned around towards the direction in which he came from and began galloping as fast as ever out of the stone hallway. All that remained of him was the blood from his incision after being thrown against the hard stone wall.

Noticing Dusk against the wall with his eyes shut closed, Shadow dashed towards him in hopes of helping him. He had his back also to the wall as well. Putting her hooves around him, Shadow began to lift Dusk off the wall, only to notice more blood had been stained onto the stone wall as well. Looking behind Dusk, Shadow could see that his back had no sort of damage or anything done to it, but his arm sure did.

The hide covering Dusk's left arm had been scraped off and all that remained were the veins and bones of his arm. Blood slid down his hoof as he had tried to get up on all fours. The gang soon noticed his damaged arm and began freaking out.

"aw SHIT!" Strife said aloud in front of the crowd. "That must have been one hell of a beating!"

"heh." Dusk chuckled slightly, opening his eyes once more and looking at his severe wound on his arm. "It doesn't seem that bad. I mean, I can still walk, right?"

"Doesn't seem bad?" Rarity shot back at Dusk. "You'll make it worse by walking on it! You need immediate medical attention!" Just as if on cue, Dusk began wobbling in place. It seemed as if his arm couldn't hold on any longer and began to give in.

Shadow was the first of the group to notice this and dashed to Dusks aid. Right as he was about to lose his balance and fall, Shadow leaned up against him, allowing him to regain his balance again.

"Thanks." Was all that came out of Dusks. A slight blush soon spread across the face of the dark stallion. He had never been this close to Shadow in such a long time. The last time he recalled, he hadn't even been near Shadow before. He still had been warned when young about a creature who would overcome the world itself and literally obliterate it, and Dusk knew that it had been Shadow. But something about her made really question whether her was truly good or not. Whether she was with or against all this mayhem happening at once.

**"Well, well."** A familiar voice rang down the solid stone walls. **"looks like you clever ponies were able to scare off my minion after all. I always knew you were strong and courageous, but not THAT brave."** The sound of clapping had also began to ring through the area.** "Don't fret though. I've got plenty of more minions for you ponies to, what's the right word,****oh I don't know, FEED ON! Just try and go on, see where it truly leads you." **The clapping sound had soon stopped. "**Good luck trying to find what's impossible to see with the naked eye. I'll have all your heads before me if you dare to take any step further. Death awaits around every corner. No matter what, there is no hope to escape. I hope you lived a good life, because every second in here will literally be worse than hell." **A sick, twisted laugh was soon followed as the sound had echoed down the deeps of the stone hallway, ending it all.

"Great." Strife began again. "We haven't even been here for a mere ten minutes and we already make enemies with the asshole who runs this buckin' hellhole of a castle!" Strife had used his hind-legs to kick the stone wall on the side in anger. He had just lost his temper and tried to relieve his stress by taking it out on something else.

"Woah now, easy there fella." Applejack spoke up. "Yall don't want ta be attracting any more attention, do ya?"

"Applejacks right." Raymond spoke up from the back of the group. "We have to get a move on if we don't want to get detected."

"I agree. I've had enough for one day. Let's go find this Discord and kick his butt so we can end all this world chaos and get our world back!" Dusk shouted.

"Wait!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "Didn't you hear that big meanie Discord say that he had more of those –pony things lurking around this area. What happens if we run into one? What happens if one of us gets hurt? What happens if one of us dies?"

"Pinkie does have a good point" Lightning added, supporting the energetic pink mare. "One of us could end up like Dusk and get seriously injured or even dies. You saw those enemies, right? There a species not to be messed with."

"Well, what else can we do?" Snake busted out. "We can't just go back to our ruined life already destroyed by Discord? We have to put an end to this once and for all and stop that Bastard before he conquers the entire world!"

"I agree with Snake." A soft-spoken Dusk replied. "We can travel through this place undetected if we all stick together and don't make a sound. There's a small chance that somepony might get wounded or maybe even die, but just keep in mind that it's a small possibility."

"Well, let's do this then!" Blur shot from the group. "Let's go find that buckface and teach him not to mess with ponies!" With that, Blur began galloping down the stone hallway, only to be stopped by the sound of Rainbows voice.

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash yelled over the crowd. "Where's Twilight!" To everyponys surprise, Twilight hadn't been with the group. They began searching frantically for the lavender mare, only to find that she wouldn't turn up.

"Uh!" Dusk soon realized as he made a high pitched sound. "I think I know where she might be. But I don't think you'll want to hear this."

** Done with another chapter. Let me start off by saying that I am sincerely sorry for not updating yesterday. I wasn't feeling good enough to write yesterday and didn't have the strength to write. Still, this chapter is long enough to supply the length of two normal chapters. For now and on I think I'll update every other day so chapters can be longer than usual. Also, I am sorry that this chapter has some spelling and grammar mistakes here and there. I didn't have the time for somepony to check my work and fix the mistakes, so this chapter is kind of messy. I'm still looking for new OC's and songs too. The song featured in this chapter was Boss 4 theme of SA2. Also, the new characters in this story were also created by none other than me *points at self in pride*. I am more than proud that I finally got to use my favorite character ever, Shadow, who is really just a remix of Fluttershy. The enemy was also a character based off of the Amnesia series. Even though I said it was a zombie-pony does not mean that was Alois. He has yet to be introduced. Moving on, I am also starting a contest sooner or later. The goal is to write a full chapter of the story based off of an idea I give you. I know I'll get a lot of entries, but there will only be one winner. The winners chapter will get posted as a real chapter of the story and I will be taking new song and OC requests from them personally, as well as they get to change the plot of the story for the next 5-10 chapters for whatever they want. Think of it like this: For the chapter, you can use your OC if it's in the story and make it the protagonist of the chapter as well as add any song into the chapter as you like. When the time comes, I'll warn everypony when the contest has begun and I'll give a short summary of what the chapter should be about. The limit is a week to write at least a 2,000 word chapter. Just remember that the more you write, the better a chance you have on winning. I'll think of starting the contest in the next 2-3 chapters, but until then, REVIEW! **


	26. Chapter 25 Rescue on a Space Colony

**Back again with another update. So for, I have a lot of stories to catch up on for reading them myself. This will sadly slow down my writing and begin to make it shorter. If it isn't that bad, it gets worse for me even more. The other day, our Language Arts class began "The Giver" and we have to read about 5 chapters each week. This will surely slow down my writing since I have to do a LOT of comprehension questions to add onto the book itself. I don't want to keep you all waiting right now, so we shall begin.**

Chapter 25 – Rescue on a Space Colony

**Location: ARK prison facility**

**Time: 20:00**

The hallways of the maximum space prison commonly known as the Ark had a mass array of guards stirring around the facility. Every single hallway, every single room, every single cubic inch of space had been covered with guards of all sorts of heights. The only thing similar about them was the pure gold bullet-proof armor shell on their chest as well as a flashlight in their mouth. The deeps of space allowed no light to get into the prison, meaning the facility had to produce a light source itself, and solar power was never a problem for them, considering they were just miles away from the sun itself.

Thunder Ice had been trapped in what seemed to be a metal cell on the side of the hallway. The only thing blocking Thunder with the rest of the Ark had been the indestructible steel bars that had been thicker than the past bars that Dusk had been trapped in. Apparently the guards had learned a lesson about making too thin bars and had to pay the price of one of their prison mates escaping.

As Thunder made his way towards the bars of the cell, he had stood up onto his hind two hoofs and pressed his front two hooves up onto the cold bars of the cell. His head had managed to fit through the bars, but his body was too wide to sliver through.

Looking through the bars of the cell, Thunder began having visions of him and the lavender mare that he knew and loved with all his heart. How he had lost the one most important thing in the world to him. How he had lost it all.

Memories of himself ran through his mind as he remembered sacrificing his own self in order for everypony else to escape. Thunder didn't care if he was separated from her or was even to be executed or injected. All that mattered to him was that his true love had been alright.

Thunder Ice began playing with his mind until he heard the crashing sound of a canister hitting the cold metal floor. Quick as a bee, Thunder pointed his head upwards towards the direction of where the collision had come from only to see him looking directly at a purple mare tripping over her own hooves.

"Twilight?" Thunder asked aloud, not aware that guards had been just around the corner and could hear his every movement.

"Shhh!" Twilight had held up a hoof towards her mouth and began to blow into it, warning Thunder to be quiet. Looking closely, Thunder Ice noticed that Twilight had tripped up against a fire hydrant, causing it to fall to the floor.

Leaving the fire hydrant where it was, twilight briskly trotted over to Thunders cell only a short distant away from where she was immediately. Pushing up on her hind legs, Twilight leaned against the cell and, using her magic from her already-functional horn, levitated a key out of the side of her body. Thunder had no clue where the key came from nor did he want to find out.

The key had been surrounded by a purple aura as it levitated through the air. It then made its way to the lock implanted onto the cell and was forced in from Twilight's magic. Coming at eye level to the lock, Twilight kept grudging at the lock trying to find out which way to turn the key in order for the cell to open. While Twilight had been doing his, all Thunder did was watch helplessly as his partner tried to open the cell bars.

Looking at Twilight fully concentrated on opening the lock, Thunder had suddenly noticed something. Placing a hoof on the front of his head, Thunder could feel the regular shape and feel of his horn, or at least till he reached the top of his horn.

The top of his horn had been chipped off just enough for him to not be able to perform magic or spells. A Unicorn's horn functioned exactly like a Pegasis' wings. They had to be in full tact in order for them to function properly.

It took Thunder a while to realize why this had happened to him. He had been told when he was just a little colt that when a criminal had been taken into prison, their wings would either be chopped off or their horn would be chipped. This was done to prevent the escaping of anypony, especially Unicorns. Even though it seemed harsh and was more than an abuse for the criminals, it was a requirement and had to be done before they were put into a cell.

Being a unicorn, Thunder had gotten his own horn chipped off for being a Unicorn. It soon hit Thunder as the memory of him and the rest of the gang were previously in the Ark trying to find and rescue Dusk. When they had found him, Thunder recalled that his wings hadn't been chopped up or dented or anything like that, rather they had been in full tact and had been attached to the sides of his body as usual. He still didn't understand the concept of why his horn had been chipped off and Dusk still had his wings, which were perfectly fine and still worked.

A loud cracking sound was soon heard as Thunder resumed back to reality and looked down to see that Twilight had managed to break the lock on the cell door, allowing it to open with ease. Pushing against the cell, Thunder had managed to push the cell door away from him, allowing him to be free from the prison gate once more.

"Twilight." Thunder rushed towards the lavender mare, opening his front hooves and hugging her. "I thought I'd never see you again, or that's what I thought." Thunder grasped Twilight tightly with his hooves and began stroking her mane.

"Thunder!" Twilight gently whispered. She had pushed Thunder Ice away from herself. "Stay focused. If anything, I'd rather get out of here alive than get captured again by hugging." Twilights voice had suddenly changed into more of a whisper. "There are guards around every corner if you haven't yet noticed. Ever since the rest of the gang escaped and you were left here, more and more guards show up each day. They want to make sure there are no more breakouts like last time and that nopony manages to escape."

"Ok, ok. I get it." Thunder confirmed. "But still, why did you come back for me even though you knew you would be risking your own life too."

Suddenly, the loud sound of trotting echoed through the chamber as guards ran down the hallway. They had been just around the corner from where Twilight and Thunder were.

"Quick!" One of the guards yelled. "I think I heard something from here." The guards kept on inching closer and closer to where the two Unicorns were and were merely meters away from finding them.

"Consider yourself even." Was all Twilight got to say. With that, she grabbed Thunders hoof and began galloping down the other end of the hallway in which she came from. Thunder had been following close behind the mare as they charged down the corridors of the Ark.

As the two neared the shuttle launchers attached to the Ark, a question soon ran in his head. The same exact question that Dusk had asked the group the first time they tried to escape the Ark:

"_Who was going to stay behind and launch all the space pods themselves?"_

The guards were now only a few meters away as Twilight and Thunder neared the shuttle launchers. Thunder knew that the same think would end up happening and that he would get captured again. Thus meaning that he would wind up getting in even more trouble than before. Turns out Twilight had just made it worse for him by trying to break him out and escaping with him.

As the two dove into the shuttle launcher room, the first thing Twilight had did before anything else was turning towards the opposing direction, facing the guards, and used all her strength and molecule of energy to close the revolver doors of the room.

Her magic had been strong and powerful and being tutored by Princess Celestia herself, Twilight had been more than just strong when it came to spells and strength, but opening and closing the doors found on the Ark were more than just a challenge.

It took Thunder an entire ten seconds to realize that Twilight couldn't shut the doors with just her own magic, for it wasn't strong enough to move a 300 pound metallic door. Looking back out the door, he could see the guards were now only a mere few feet away from the two. Thunder knew that he had to take immediate action or he and Twilight would both be captured and imprisoned in the facility.

Taking a few steps forward, Thunder had been standing right across from Twilight and the metallic door. Leaning in, Thunder began forcing all the energy and magic from his own body into his horn. Even though the tip was broken and that it was impossible for anypony to perform magic with a broken horn, Thunder gave his all trying to help Twilight close the massive door.

The guards were now only inches away from the others as they began charging faster and faster. Right as Thunder was about to accept the fact that it wasn't going to work and that he and Twilight were going to be taken captive, a sudden burst went off from the top of his head. Apparently, his horn began glowing as the door did too. Thunder had soon noticed that his magic was now working again, even though his horn was broken. He had just realized that he had performed the impossible, and he was the one who had finally made it possible. But Thunder had bigger things to focus on than just performing the impossible.

Right as the group of guards had locked onto the two unicorns on the other side, Thunder Ice had focused in all his magic onto the door and began pulling it shut. Twilight had been trying her best to help too as the door inched closer and closer shut.

Just as the guards dove right into the shuttle launchers room where Twilight and Thunder had been, the two unicorns had both crossed magic beams, causing both their magic to be combined and become at least five times stronger than normal.

The guards were now just millimeters from crossing the border as Twilight and Thunder had combined both their magic. The result of this was the revolver door closing shut, allowing neither guards nor unicorns to cross territories. The only thing separating Twilight and Thunder with the rest of the Ark was the revolver door itself.

Being stressed out from the sudden use of magic, Twilight collapsed onto the cold metal floor, painting heavily as she did son. She had used every single speck of energy in her entire body and was now fully worn out by this point. All twilight wanted to do at this point was just rest.

Thunder couldn't bear to see Twilight in her current state and began to offer Twilight some of his own magic, which only led to Twilight refusing the generous offer. Still, Thunder couldn't take seeing her like this and wouldn't take no for an answer. With that, Thunder Ice carefully trotted over to where Twilight had been laid out on the floor and began to lean his head over. His horn began glowing as the tip of it touched Twilights own horn.

A spark was suddenly emanated followed by a cracking sound as waves of energy from Thunder sprang over to Twilight. While Thunder had been feeling pain, Twilight had been feeling pleasure on the other hoof. It still didn't matter what Thunder had been feeling to himself. As long as Twilight was ok, he was ok.

As the two disconnected from each other, Thunder was the one to fall to the ground this time. He had been worn out completely from giving most of his energy over to Twilight. Twilight soon began to rise as Thunder had fallen. Looking back at the dark blue unicorn, Twilight began mumbling a few words to him.

"You know, you didn't have to do that." Twilight said in a soft, loving tone of voice. "I would've been perfectly fine all by myself."

"Heh." Thunder was able to get a little laughter out from his system. "I guess I let my heart speak for itself this time. I just couldn't stand seeing you in such a painful state even if it was for only a few seconds." Thunder had soon recovered his breath again and resumed his steady breathing. With that, he had gotten up on all fours again.

"You know, that was really sweet on what you did. Thanks." That mentioned, Twilight had leaned in and planted a small little kiss onto Thunders cheeks. The result of this was a small little blush making its way onto Thunders' dark coat. Twilight had been amused by this and a slight chuckle escaped her lips.

"Still." Twilight spoke up once more. "We have to focus on the main task at hoof." With that, she had turned around from Thunder and began trotting over to one of the space pods in the corner. What had surprised the lavender mare was that all the space pods that had been taken during their last attempt at escaping the Ark had already been replaced by new, sleeker typed of space pods. They had not only appealed differently, but corresponded differently too.

"What the hay?" Twilight yelled aloud. "What are these things?" Twilight was now observing the pods from every possible angle. "More importantly, what do they even do?"

"I think I might know." Thunder exclaimed aloud, taking part in the conversation. "The last time I recalled, I remember some of the guards working on a new type of space pod called the pod X-3 or something. I don't know much about it but all I know is that they work from one simple press of a button located inside the pod itself."

"Sounds easy enough." Twilight replied. "Let's go!"

"NO!" Thunder had shouted, startling the other unicorn. "It's not as easy as you think. For the space pods to operate correctly, you have to enter a code onto the control panel," Thunder had pointed a hoof towards the control panel on the far side of the room. "Doing so correctly will unlock all the buttons inside the space pods, allowing them to launch and everything. But if you are to enter the incorrect code, there is a small Taser located inside of the control panel that will activate, and will literally burn you to a crisp, or at least that was what I was told. That's what I overheard form the guards the other day when they were passing down my cell. They had been talking about the new specks installed into the shuttle launcher room, and I was lucky enough to hear them, right?"

"I guess." Twilight thought. "But still, how in the wide world of Equestria will we figure out and break the code to activate the space pods." Twilight threw her front two hooves in the air as a sign that this was big.

"Hmm, let me see." Thunder began approaching the control panel himself. Twilight didn't want to be left out, so she began trotting over to the control panel too.

Once reaching the advanced mechanism, Thunder had stood on his hind hoofs again and placed his front two hooves onto the machine. All Twilight did was just watch at what Thunder had been doing.

Looking over the keys of the control panel, Thunder could see that instead of having letters like a keyboard, all it had were the digits zero through nine implanted on their own separate button. At the bottom of the control panel were only four slots, indicating that there were only four numbers to be pressed. At the top of the panel was an array of differently flashing lights. Thunder had just ignored them and moved on.

"Well, this sure isn't gonna be easy." Thunder Ice said to Twilight, who had been right next to him.

"I can't seem to have a grudge that I know the exact numbers to activate the space pods, but I just can't think of them." Twilight responded. "

"Huh." Thunder began hitting his head with his hoof. "What four numbers can work for this combination?" Thunder murmured to himself.

"Here, let me try." Twilight stepped forward towards the control panel. "I think I can try and solve it."

"NO!" Thunder Ice screamed, putting a hoof right in front of the purple mare. "Last time I recalled, entering the wrong code results in getting electrocuted. I've risked losing you once." Thunder mentioned. "I just can't afford to lose you again.

"Just trust me." Twilight had been looking directly into Thunders' eyes now. "Please." She gently begged. Thunder knew that allowing her to try would just put her in greater risks of danger, but he didn't have the heart to just say no.

Thunder sighed before resuming the conversation. "Fine." He softly replied to Twilight, backing away from the control panel itself. "Just be careful."

"Thanks." Twilight dashed towards the control panel and stood onto her hind legs. Placing her front hooves gently on the buttons, she looked over the surrounding items located onto the control panel before doing anything else. All Thunder did was stand back as he gazed upon all of Twilights corresponding actions.

Looking at the numbers with careful caution, Twilight began thinking how many possible combinations there could even be. She knew that even one wrong move and she would be burnt to a crisp. Sweat began to flow down the side of her face as her heart began to beat faster than usual.

Twilight suddenly felt a force of weight upon her shoulder and turned her head to find that Thunder had placed a hoof onto her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know." Thunder tried to comfort Twilight. "I can cover for you if this is too much to handle."

"No, I got it." Twilight replied, standing up for herself. "I can handle this perfectly fine. It's just that I've never been put into a situation that determines my future as either Life or Death. For some weird reason, I manage to find enjoyment from this."

"What?" A shocked yet confused Thunder questioned, not sure of what Twilight had just said.

"Never mind." Twilight answered. "Let's just focus more onto the task at hoof before we jump the gun or anything. Now let's see." Twilight began rubbing her head just like Thunder had done.

"OH!" Thunder burst out, approaching the control panel again. "I think I know this." Thunder had stood onto his hind legs onto the left side of where Twilight was standing on the control panel. He had placed his front hooves onto the control panel itself. "Here try this."

Thunder glanced over the keys one more time before closing his eyes and taking a huge breath in and then out. He knew that one false move and not only him, but also Twilight would be doomed.

Placing his left hoof onto the button with the number four implanted onto it, Thunder looked at Twilight once more, then, with careful precision, had forced the button down with his hoof. The result of this move was the space all the way to the left at the bottom of the control panel turning to the number four itself. Opening his eyes, Thunder could see that he had pressed the correct number since the Taser located inside the control panel hadn't gone off.

"Yes." Thunder said to himself. He knew he had been on the right track by now and had followed that track as he pressed the remaining three numbers. Seven – two – five. Right as Thunder had entered the five, a sudden cluck sound had emanated through the entire room. Looking around, the two unicorns noticed that they had entered in the correct code, and that all the buttons located in the space pods had been activated.

"You did it!" Twilight spoke up. "You managed to get the code correct." By now, Twilight had her hooves wrapped around Thunder and had embraced the dark blue stallion. Another slight blush crossed over Thunders face at first, but then he had soon returned the hug to Twilight.

Twilight had soon broken the hug between her and Thunder as she looked up at the unicorn. "Wait." She began. "How were you able to get the code correct in the first place? Did you know the code or did you just guess by chance and managed to get it right."

Suddenly, the sound of crashing rang through the room as Twilight and Thunder had both turned to where the sound of the impact had come from. They had noticed that the guards were now trying to break down the door by charging into it. The two could see that they had been making progress after they had noticed the already dented door.

"That's to be mentioned another time." Thunder Ice replied. "Right now, we gotta leave." With that, Thunder galloped towards one of the many space pods located in the room and had closed the solid glass door of the pod behind him. Twilight had done the same with a different space pod right across from where Thunder had been.

Looking at Twilight one more time, Thunder turned towards the door that the guards had been trying to break down. They were almost at the point in which the door would bust open and they would infiltrate the room. Thunder knew that he had to leave right now. It was now or never.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in like before, Thunder had extended a hoof forward, causing the button located inside the space pod to be activated. The pod had suddenly launched itself as it began falling towards the deeps of space itself. Twilight had soon noticed Thunder had already launched himself and had pressed the button located in her space pod herself. The outcome was the same as Thunders as she fell down to the ground of space along with Thunder. She knew that with everypony now saved and rescued, their goal and dream to defeat Discord would finally be over, or at least, that's what she thought.

**Done with another chapter. My hand is literally killing me right now and I don't feel like typing anymore. Still looking for new OC's and songs too. Like I said before, now chapters will be twice as long as before and will be updated every other day. I'm still working on that competition with everypony having to write their own chapter and at this rate, I think I can get the contest out by the next chapter. I don't know if I can do it for sure, but it is just an assumption. With that said, I clearly and dearly recommend your review. Do it for the broken hands tortured for writing this chapter!**


	27. Chapter 26 A Turning Point in Life

**Back with another chapter. Before I start, I want to say one thing: SORRY! I'm very sorry that I haven't been able to update from the past few days due to a bunch of homework. Still, I have a tremendous amount of good news that I will be telling you later in the chapter that will make up for my absence for the past few days. It's right now 3 in the morning and I'm full of energy! I can't sleep right now so I decided to sneak downstairs and write/type a little more. Without a further ado, I now present you to chapter 26.**

Chapter 26 - A Turning Point in Life

"What!" Pinkie screamed. "B-but how! Wasn't she with us the entire time?"

"That's what I thought to!" Lightning Flash added on. "Why in Equestria would she even do something as foolish and stubborn as to just sneak off all by herself? For all I know, she could get butchered, or abused, or even raped!"

"Don't you understand?" Dusk began reasoning with the group. "Why else would she sneak off by herself? It's obvious that she wanted to save Thunder Ice, even though we told her to stay with us." Dusk sighed before continuing. "It wasn't her fault. She just couldn't control herself. Love is a powerful thing, if you haven't yet noticed."

"Well then, what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked while gliding through the air of the hallway. "We can't just leave this castle right now. We have to confront Discord before things get even worse. Who knows what'll happen when we leave for just a few seconds?"

There was silence among the entire group as each and every pony began thinking and considering whether or not to flee from the castle. The silence was soon broken as a green Pegasus spoke up.

"Let's go." A calm yet rough voice emanated from the group. Everypony turned their heads to the source of the voice to see Snake was the one who had spoken.

"Come again?" Applejack had asked the military stallion.

"I say we continue on." Snake added. "I've seen Twilight in action before, and let me say she's one hell of a mare. She can handle herself, no doubt."

"Don't be so sure about that." Raymond argued. "She's a mare after all. The outside world is not something to mess with, at least not at this time. With all those creatures lurking around every acre of land, who knows what will become of her?"

"hmm." Dusk began to think thoroughly. "Both of you have more than reasonable answers, but it's just too much to think about."

"**Turning tail and running away, I suppose?"** The mystical voice ran through the hallways faster than the previous zombie-pony.** "I knew you ponies were all just a simple joke. Such irony that you think some helpless life-forms can force a God out of his own throne. Just try and escape. I'll have all your heads before me before you can even reach the exit." **A menacing laughter was soon followed as the sounds echoed down the hallway.

"Discord!" Rainbow landed back onto the ground and folded her wings back up. She stomped her hooves onto the ground in anger. "Show yourself!"

There was no answer. Instead, a wooden chair against the stone wall had levitated off of the ground. The group looked at the floating chair as if they have never seen magic before. All of a sudden, the chair had been thrown in towards the direction of Rainbow Dash. Having quick reflexes, Rainbow was able to duck just in time to avoid the chair. The result of that was the chair passing overhead from the cyan peagsus and colliding into one of the very few windows in the castle. While everypony thought the chair would break the glass, they had all been wrong.

The wooden chair had hit the window with a great amount of force, but didn't even dent the window even the slightest bit. The chair, or what was left of it at least, fell to the ground in what seemed to be a pile of wooden scraps.

"**Heheheh.**" More laughing was soon heard afterward. **"That was only my first trick. Just see what else I have hidden up my sleeves, that is, if you dare."** The voices stopped as the laughing halted as well.

"Well, we can't just pussy out right now." Raymond spoke from the back of the group. "It's pointless to come this far just for nothing."

"If I had a bit for every time that guy cursed." Rarity mumbled to herself.

"Guys!" Dusk shouted over the controversy of the group. "Stay focused. We already have a hard enough problem already. Arguing won't make it any better."

"Well then, what DO we do?" Strife had asked. "It seems that none of you can agree on even the slightest things."

"Hey!" Applejack yelled at Strife. "If yall haven't noticed, yah ain't doin' any better than we are!"

This led the argument to getting even more severe second by second. There was a point in life where Dusk couldn't take it anymore and had blown his fuse over the gang.

"EVERYPONY SHUT UP!" Dusk screamed with all his might. The pain in his throat worsened as he screamed, but it didn't matter anymore considering his friends argued constantly. "If you guys want to keep on arguing for the rest of your life, then I'll be more than happy to let you guys rot in your own corpses while I find a way out of this death-trap!" With that, Dusk had turned around and slowly began trotting down the stone hallway, every now and then tripping over his badly-damaged left hoof.

"W-where are you going?' Pinkie was the first of the group to ask.

"I'm going to defeat Discord by myself." Dusk responded, stopping in place and turned his hoof to face the windows on the side of the stone hallway. "I can't get anywhere with you guys, so I decided to fly alone." Dusk took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm going solo." Dusk then turned his head forward and resumed trotting steadily down the stone hallway.

"I'll go with him." Shadow spoke up. "I'm the only one he can trust, after all." With that, Shadow began galloping down the hallway in Dusks' direction, soon catching up with him. She had pressed herself against his side so he could regain his balance again.

"Good luck!" Rarity shouted across the hall towards the two. "See you guys later, I guess." She said quieter. Sadly, there was no response as Shadow and Dusk trotted down the long stone covered hallway. The rest of the group didn't know what to do next as they watched the tow Pegasi leave their sight for now.

* * *

"Wake up!" a muffled scream rang into Thunder Ices' ear. Everything to him was a blur as he began to drift off into an everlasting sleep. That was until he had felt his back literally get crushed.

"WAKE UP!" The voice shouted again. Opening his eyes, Thunder could see that he had been flipped over onto his backside while his stomach pointed upwards towards the vast sky. For some reason, today the sky had been as clear as ever compared to every other day where the sky had been completely sullen and had been drenched in darkness and despair. This had been a warning that today was supposed to be a positive, happy day. But not everything said goes.

"W-what?" Thunder weakly said, lifting his head up from the rough ground and rubbing it with his front hoof. "What'd you do that for, Twi?" He asked in a state of frustration, looking at the lavender mare.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to wake you, I'm serious." Twilight began apologizing at the other unicorn. "It's just that we have to get a move on before the rest of the group notices I'm gone. I've already been separated from them long enough." Twilight began to play with the graveled-up rocks beneath her. "Oh, they must be worried dearly where I am right now."

"Don't think that way." Thunder began to defend Twilight from herself. "Sure they might be worrying about where you are." Thunder had gotten up on all fours now and had trotted right in front of where Twilight was. He had then placed a hoof onto her shoulder as she continued to look at the ridged ground. "So what? All that matters here and now is that you're ok and safe." With that, he leaned into her and wrapped both his front hooves around the mare.

"Oh, Thunder." Twilight said in a loving and compassionate tone. She had used her own hooves to gently push away the comforting stallion away from her. "I know what you're doing is supposed to help me stop worrying so much, and I appreciate you consideration more than enough, but it's just that I can't get off the fact that the rest of the group must be terrified that I'm not with them."

"Well, then what are you waiting for?" Thunder Ice had interrupted. "Stop worrying and put yourself back together again. We're gonna find the rest of the group o matter what it takes." By now, Thunder had taken control of himself as well as Twilight and began asking her more and more questions.

"Now, let's get back down to business." Thunder began trotting in place. "The last time you recalled, where were the rest of the group?" He spoke up.

"Hm, last time I recalled." Twilight asked herself, scratching her dry chin with her front left hoof. "Oh wait!" She finally understood. "I remember them saying last time they were headed for a castle far in the horizon. The only problem is that I've forgotten the name of the castle itself." At this point, Twilight had been banging the top of her head in the search of an answer to Thunder's question." Oh, what was it?" She asked herself again. "Ca-Cou-Coudr-Caul-Cauldron." She said aloud to herself, looking for the real name of the castle.

"Mystic Cauldron!" Thunder burst out. He had known the haunted estate from when he had been just a little colt.

"Oh, that's what I was looking for!" Twilight jumped." But still, how in Equestria do you know the place?"

"Oh, it was a long time ago." Thunder responded. "I'd rather not tell you it anyway. It's kinda personal."

"Well then, do you know how to get there?" Twilight shot another question at Thunder.

"Sadly, yes." Thunder answered, looking down at the rough ground beneath the two.

"Why sadly?" Twilight questioned the stallions words.

"Heh." Thunder began. "Let's just say I didn't have the best experience with the castle itself." Thunder then turned his head away from the lavender mare and continued speaking, only this time in a much lower volume. "I still have nightmares of the Celestian-for-saken place even to this day."

"Oh." Twilight responded sheepishly. She had regretted asking too much personal information about Thunder after all. "Well, since you know where the castle is, can you lead me there?"

"I don't know." Thunder slowly responded. "The pathway there is pretty risky and the castle itself is no better. I fear that something bad will happen to one of us if we go there."

"Come on. Don't you know it's worse to stay here in the middle of nowhere with only the two of us than to be safely protected by the rest of the group?" Twilight argued.

"I know what you mean and all," Thunder replied. "But it just doesn't seem like a good decision at all to me."

"Fine!" Twilight snapped back. "If you won't go, then I will." With that, twilight began trotting into a random direction, having no clue whether she was heading in the correct direction or not.

Thunder had sighed before calling out to Twilight. "It's this way, Twi." Twilight had stopped trotting and had turned around at the sudden call of her name.

"I knew that." Twilight said, passing by Thunder as she kept her head and rear up. "I was just testing you."

"Yeah, right." Thunder began playing along with Twilight. Catching up to her, he began remembering his past on how he truly discovered the Mystic Cauldron when he was just a colt. On how he truly found out the secrets of the world hidden under the deeps of the castle. But that was to wait for another time. Right now, Thunder had a mission to complete, and it wasn't considered easy.

** Done with another chapter. Now I know all of you must be wondering what the good news is, and I'm here to tell you. The reason I've been absent for the past few days was because *drum roll please* I've been working on none other than my very first PMV. The good news is that I've finished it just the other day and have posted it onto the internet. A link can be found here: /watch?v=E6C2VE2oDS8**

**Watch the video, subscribe, like, post a comment. Do whatever it takes to make me happy. If I get enough likes and views, I'll create another PMV from a song of any choice. Now, I must be going from all the homework I still need to do. With that, I command you to review!. (As always, still looking for new OC's and songs to use as always!)**


	28. Chapter 27 Mare Meltdown

** Back with another update! By now you might be thinking something is wrong with me since I haven't been updating as much as I used to and let me start off by saying that you are absolutely true. It seems that I've gotten a bit lazy over the past few days and I'm not the pony I used to be anymore. Now that I'm older, I have a lot more responsibilities to attend to rather than just writing one mere fanfic. Anyway, I don't have any other news to share with you at this current point rather than to begin the fanfic, so let us begin.**

Chapter 27 – Mare Meltdown

"Sometimes I wonder that those crazy ponies can even go a second without finding a topic to controvert over." Dusk began a conversation. Right now, he had been aside none other than his long-lost mare friend, Fluttershy, or currently known as Shadow. Ever since he had been thrown against the stone wall of the corridor by the previous zombie-pony lurking around the castle, he had taken some serious damage. Serious enough to prevent him from walking straight all on his own. He needed support, support from somepony who he knew and trusted with all his heart. Somepony, like Shadow.

All Shadow did was look forward into the distance ahead of herself as a response to Dusk's comment. She knew that he had been arguing, but what she didn't know was who he had been arguing against. She did not know nor did she want to find out.

"Life would've been better for me if I had been stranded on the ark rather than this." Dusk spoke up again. "At least if I knew what consequences would await me in the near future."

"Now, don't say that." Shadow had finally stepped in. "Just because they don't have bonding relations with each other doesn't mean they're untrustable." By now, Shadow had been face to face with Dusk and had been looking directly into the stallions eyes. No longer had she been at his side, supporting him to stand up tall, rather have been in front of him.

Dusk had been smart and knew that there was no saying no to Shadow, especially at this time in a wounded state. All he did was sigh loud enough for Shadow herself to hear as he looked into her blood-red eyes. Even though they brought out her dark and violent side, Dusk had trouble trying to even look away from them. Everything around Dusk became a blur as his own eyes came to a focus onto Shadow. All he wanted to do was just close his eyes, lean into her and let his mind wander off. Dusk knew the time was now or never, and his mind screamed for him to do so, but he just didn't have the nerves or guts to even face the dire consequences that came with such a sudden reaction. Especially with somepony who can literally rip apart an arm from its own socket.

Suddenly, a loud, ear-piercing shriek ran down the wooden hallways filled with red, luxurious carpet. It not only stung Dusks' ears but also Shadows' as well. The sound had been like a sharp nail against a rough chalkboard only twenty times louder and worse. It had been like fire had erupted inside their minds and had been burning every single bit inside them.

Right as the screeching sound had worsened, Dusk could soon see his vision begin to turn a light shade of red as his legs began to wobble. The weight of his body had been too much for him to handle substantially as he collapsed over his own weight. The light red vision had soon began to get darker and darker until all Dusk could see out of his own pupils was pure redness.

Looking back up, Dusk could see that Shadow had encountered the same exact problem as he had. The only difference was that she had been coughing violently as if she had been chocking or her lungs had been full of smoke.

Shadow had soon fallen to the ground as a thump noise was heard. Looking directly at her, Dusk could see that she had had her own eyes closed. Her body had been motionless besides the fact that her chest rose every now and then indicating that she had still been alive and had been breathing. It had been as if she had fallen into either a deep sleep or a coma.

"Shadow." Was all Dusk managed to say as the loud shrieking noise as well as the heavy shade of red over his eyes made it difficult for him to live. He soon began crawling over to where Shadow had collapsed with all his might even though his left arm had been badly scrapped from before.

Finally nearing Shadow, Dusk had gently put his good hoof around the unconscious mare and looked at her one more time before shutting his eyes for the time being. The loud shrieking began to die down as Dusk felt the life literally slip out of him. Dusk knew that something bad and menacing was going to happen when he awoke, but that was going to have to wait till later. There's no point of predicting the future or playing with the past when you can't control the present.

* * *

"Ugg, what's with all these crude paintings?" Rarity complained. Right now the gang had been traveling through one of the many hallways found inside Mystic Cauldron. Just like the Ark, this castle had the same exact concepts as the space prison. Not only did it have may rooms and hallways like the Ark did but it also had enemy mobs lurking around nearly every corner of the territory. The group had been just plain lucky for only having to run into one enemy so far. And now that they had lost Shadow, Dusk, Twilight, and Thunder Ice, things weren't going to get any better.

"Suddenly, just as the gang had been carefully trotting down the long, ominous hallways, their attention on the lookout for any enemy foes, a loud shriek was heard from down the hallway. It seemed like more of a mare scream than a stallions scream from the high-pitched voice it had.

"What the?" Strife had said aloud from the group. "What in the world of Equestria was that?" He asked while slightly shriveling.

"I don't even know." Blur hand spoken up. "But there's only one way to find out. Follow me!" He yelled aloud to the group before galloping off into the direction of where the scream had come from.

The rest of the gang, including Raymond, had not been one to just underestimate the brave and courageous stallion, so they followed along down the hallway with him.

* * *

After a while of galloping down the long, twisted hallways, Blur had found an open room to the side of the hallway. The door had been slightly open enough for light to escape into the dark, everlasting hallway.

Opening it slowly and briefly, Blur had been the first to handle the door with his front hoof. Tugging on it slightly, he was able to open the door even more than before enough for him to stick his head slightly into the gap to see what had been going on in the room. What he saw not only startled his vision but also his eyes too.

What he saw was a red mare cornered in what seemed to be a dusty old room with cobwebs along the walls and cracks in the ceiling and floor. For some reason, the light bulb in the middle of the room had been working and had emitted light, even though it had a somewhat large crack crafted onto the side of the glass itself. But that wasn't at all what Blur had seen that shocked him.

What he also saw was a very ridged and baggy creature that had been standing right in front of the mare. It had been the exact same creature that the gang had run into just a few minutes before. It had the exact same wheel tightly grasped around his concealed neck as well as the rough skin covering the outer sections of his body.

It took Blur a while to realize what had actually been going on, and when he did, he let out a sigh loud enough for the rest of the group to hear. At that point, he had found out that the zombie-pony they ran into earlier would literally obliterate the mare into tiny pieces. Just like what he had tried to do to them. Just like what he had done to the innocent life against the stone wall they encountered a while back.

Blur knew that he had to do something. Anything to stop the zombie-pony from losing more innocent lives for no such reason. Knowing that Shadow had been with Dusk somewhere else in the castle, Blur knew that he had to take immediate actions. Not even taking the time to even think or consider his actions, Blur had leaped in onto the scene.

"Ahh!" Blur yelled as he dove head first towards the zombie-pony. The sudden reaction had been fatal as Blur had caught the enemy by surprise and began wrapping his hooves around the zombie-pony's neck in a chocking manner. Being a guard from the Ark, Blur had been trained by the best of the best in mixed martial arts and knew every possible move when it came to fighting.

By this point, Blur had a good grip on the enemy's neck and began to tug as hard as his arms would allow him to. All the rest of the gang did was observe the scene from behind the slightly opened door. Not even Snake helped Blur take down the zombie-pony.

It took quite a bit of tugging for Blur, but after a while, Blur had managed to get ahold of the wheel attached around the zombie-pony's neck and had literally yanked it out of him. This resulted in a large crack sound being emanated followed by blood gushing everywhere in its range. It seemed as if Blur had literally split the enemies' neck in two, causing the head to be separated from the rest of the body. And apparently so, it had happened.

The head of the zombie-pony had rolled to the floor in disgust as its lifeless eyes of the creature faced upward to the lit ceiling of the room. Everypony looked at the head as if it had been rubies or something valuable.

The body of the zombie-pony soon fell to the floor afterward. The same lifelessness was contained in the corpse as was in the head. The smell of death and decay filled the room as a substantial amount of blood began to leak out of the two separated sections of the enemy. It had been a horrifying sight that not only scarred Blur, but also everypony else.

"I, I can't believe I did it." Blur said to himself quietly while looking at the deceased zombie-pony. "I can't believe I killed somepony." A feeling of shock flowed through his entire body as he had just realized the feeling of sorrow and despair for brutally killing somepony of his own kind.

As Blur thought over on what he had just done, the rest of the gang began trotting on into the dimly lit room, already knowing that the cruel, vile beast had already been deceased.

Right as DJ Fiiasco entered the room, one thing caught his eye. Something that he wasn't able to take his eyes off of when he first caught it. He soon found himself starring directly at the red mare who had been previously cornered by the zombie-pony and had gotten up and was now dusting herself off. It happened to be that she had seemed so familiar to him, as if he had seen her before in the exact same location as they were in now. It then hit him who he had really been looking at, and it hit him hard.

He knew the mare by heart. It had been the exact same mare that he had ran into in his childhood when he had been just a colt. The same mare that had literally scarred him when he was young. But there was one thing about her that make DJ Fiiasco wonder hard what was wrong with her.

She had been the same exact appearance as before, and wasn't any taller or shorter, tanner or paler, older or younger. Everything about her had been the same the last time DJ Fiiasoc recalled, and this seriously freaked him out. He knew that it would be best to stay out of her sight since she might also recognize him, so he ended up moving to the back of the group in order for the mare not to detect him.

In the meantime, the rest of the gang had welcomed themselves into the room as they noticed both the startled Blur as well as the red mare. Everypony had been thinking the same question as they looked at the mysterious mare.

"Who was she?"

The group was silent as they just watched the mare get up and dust herself off. There was a moment of silence until the mare had finished dusting herself off and looked up. What she saw was an array of different ponies, each with their own separate coat and mane color, as well as different cutie marks too.

The mare then turned her head and came face to face with Blur. Blur had still been in a terrified state for previously killing somepony and didn't have the nerve to look back up at the mare. All he did was look back at the ground at the shameful crime he had just committed, even though it was heroism that saved the day, not fear.

"Well, I must be thanking you for your bravery and tremendous defeats, but I must be on my way right now." With that, the red mare turned around and began trotting out of the room. That was until Pinkie had stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Hi!" She yelled in her usuall cheery voice. "I'm Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie Pie." Pinkie had just stuck out her hoof in return for the red mare to shake it. The result had been the mare refusing to shake her hoof as she resumed walking out of the room. Right as she exited the room, another pony had spoken up. This time it had been a deeper voice that the high pitched one she had just heard moments ago.

"Hey!" It yelled. "Where do you think you're going?" Everypony, including the red mare, had turned around to see where the voice had come from. To their surprise, it came from one other than a green stallion.

"Well?" Snake grew impatient. He began to tap his front hoof onto the ground showing that he was getting bitter.

"And more importantly, who are you?" Seamus asked in his usual mare-ish voice.

"Pardon me for my intrusions," Her light accent filled the room. "My name is Princess Justine, but you can call me Justine."

"Well, Justine," Snake began. He started to inch forward to the mare every word he spoke. "What were you doing in theism room being confronted by that, that zombie-pony?" By now, Snake had been directly face to face with Justine."

"Oh, that brings me back." Justine responded. "But I'd rather not say."

"Why not?" A deep-voiced Snake asked. "I've got the time. We've all got the time."

"Some things are better left private than to be shared with everypony else." A nervous Justine replied. She began to lie after every question that was thrown at her.

"Oh come on!" Snake shouted. "There's no getting to this dumb mare without getting any of the correct answers!"

"Now listen here, Snake." Rarity spoke up. "Just because she doesn't want to share something doesn't mean you have to literal force it out her. For all I know, it could be something private or secret that wasn't meant to be shared with anypony else."

Snake began to groan as he heard Raritys' speech. She had already been a pain while silent, but when she talked, it made Snake want to cut his ears off so he wouldn't have to listen to her obnoxiousness.

"Well, now that we are all properly introduced, I must be on my way." Justine spoke.

"But, aren't you gonna stay with us?" Pinkie asked Justine. "It's dangerous to go alone through this place with all those scary monsters lurking around every corner."

"I think I can handle myself." Justine replied, nearing the door of the room.

"From the looks of it, yall weren't even able to handle yourself back tehre." Applejack explained, pointing a hoof towards the dead corpse that Blur had been standing by.

"Fine!" An aggravated Justine answered. "I'll tag along with you guys if you're that desperate of me being ok."

"Well, now that we have a new partner," Lightning Flash spoke up. "She can help us find and confront Discord. She must know at least how to get to the throne room or something."

"Right you are." Justine replied. "But it won't be easy. For starters, I lead the group. Nopony get out of line or anything unless you want to face the dire consequences of either getting lost or getting killed."

"Can we just go already?" Snake asked in an annoyed manner. He had already been pissed off enough for one day, and her talking wasn't going to make things any better.

"Fine." Was Justine's only answer. "Just remember that I warned you." With that, Justine had trotted out of the room, leading the rest of the gang towards Discord. At the back of the group was DJ Fiiasco. As he trotted, it soon hit him. He had realized who Justine had really been. She had been none other than that same mare who poisoned the innocent stallion in the exact same manner.

Keeping up with the group, DJ Fiiasoc knew that he had to warn the rest of the group before it was too late.

** Done with another chapter. I don't feel like talking much now other than need new OC's and songs. Also, in the meantime, over the past week, I've also created two more PMV's that are already uploaded onto youtube. Just search for Racecarghost1 (my channel name) and then videos. I'm expecting my next PMV to probably be out in the next two to three days, but until then, watch the other two that I've posed. Now I need to go take a shower, so with that said, bye! **

**(P.S: r…..e….v…..…i…e…w)**


	29. Chapter 28 Dreams of Darkness

**I don't feel like writing an author's note right now, so just get on with reading!**

Chapter 28 – Dreams of Darkness

Darkness filled the area as Shadow opened her eyes. Nothing had been visible to the mare as she awoke from her deep slumber. As if on cue, a light, white path had soon been emanated off from the dark ground as if it had been a trail. Compared to the contrast of the darkness of the surroundings to Shadow, the white path beneath her illuminated light around the area she had been stranded in.

Having no other option, Shadow had gotten back up onto all four hooves as if it had been nothing, and slowly began trotting down the light pathway. Nothing else besides the trail had been visible to her. It had been as if he mind had been playing games on her and she had been sucked into an illusion that she wasn't able to control.

Following the path, Shadow began thinking what had led her to find herself stuck in suck a dark area. This was until a sound rang in through her ear. An ear piercing sound that came from the end of the pathway.

From this, Shadow had quickly snapped out of her thoughts and began galloping down the path, the entire time looking down to where the path would lead her. Every now and then the pathway would bend and twist left and right as if it had been a GPS.

After galloping down the path for a while, Shadow could soon see blood marks stained onto the light pathway. The farther she traveled, the more blood droplets had been spread out onto the floor. She then began implying that no good could come from travelling any further, but she persisted herself to keep moving on.

Looking up ahead of her, Shadow could then see two blurred out visions a short distance away from her. She began to slow down bit by bit as she got closer to the two visions. As a result, the visions became clearer after every step Shadow made towards them. Being nearly right in front of the visions, Shadow could then tell who she had been standing right in front of.

On the left had been a brown stallion with a dark brown mane while on the right had been a grey mare with a lavender mane and tail. Shadow could also see wings coming out of both of their sides, indicating that they were both Pegasi. For some reason, the two figures had seemed awfully familiar to Shadow herself, yet she couldn't quite but her hoof on who the two actually had been.

Both pegasi had been standing up onto their hind legs and had grasped each other with their front hooves. Both had a terrifying expression imprinted onto their face as if they were going to die all of a sudden. This was until one of them had spoken up.

"Please, don't hurt us." The grey mare beckoned. "We've done nothing wrong." Every word that escaped the mares mouth sent a shrivel down her spine.

"Think of all the damage and destruction that will become of this." The brown stallion added. His somewhat deep voice flowing through the air like whipped topping.

All the two did was grasp each other as the seconds passed by. The second soon becoming minutes as Shadow stared into the vision of the two ponies eyes.

Then, right then and there, the vision began to blur as Shadow stared at the two. The more it blurred, the harder it had become to see them. Just as the last few specs of them remained, a sudden shriek had been emanated from the opposing side of the vision. It had been a very dull scream, yet it was loud enough to catch the attention of Shadow.

Quick as a whip, Shadow swiftly turned her entire self around and pointed her head into the dark distance of where the shriek had come from. All Shadow could hear was the piercing sounds of screeches as her vision had been blocked out by the darkness of the mysterious illusion.

Suddenly, there was a sound of claws hitting the dark floor of the area as Shadow began looking around the area in search of another life form. Her searches were hopeless as the extreme darkness prevented her from seeing anything.

Then, a pinching feeling had been implanted onto her right front hoof as it had been hoisted into the air as followed. Her right arm had been lifted up into the air as Shadow turned her head to see what could have possibly done such a thing. It had still been pointless considering all the darkness flooding her eyesight.

From there, the same pinching occurred to her other arm as it too had been lifted into the air. Shadow had been confused by this sudden occurrence and struggled as hard as her body would allow her. She soon realized it had been pointless as the same pinching occurred in her hind legs as they were also lifted into the air as everything else. By now, Shadow had been completely air borne without even using her wings, or what had been left of them at least.

As Shadow struggled to loosen the grip of the pinching sensation in the body, it only had grown worse. The claws had been digging into her soft hide as a result to every move she made. Suddenly, Shadow began doing something she had never expected to ever do in a million years:

She began crying.

The intense pain was too much for Shadow herself to take as her eyes began swelling up with tears in the process. They ran down her cheek bones as tear by tear streamed out of her eye.

"No!" Shadow screamed aloud to herself. "Stop!" She continued. She couldn't help herself from speaking as more and more pain came from the claws digging deep into her arms and legs. Shadow could feel the rush of oxygen pass by her as blood streamed out of the positions that had been clawed.

Then, all of a sudden, everything went silent. Shadow's hearing grew less and less as the pain from her arms and legs slowly disappeared. It had been as if she had been unconscious from the blood loss from the clawings.

* * *

"Ugg" Shadow moaned to herself as she lifted her head up off from the ground. She sat up as she lifted one of her front hooves to her forehead and began to rub it as if she had been experiencing a brutal headache.

"What?" Shadow asked silently to herself as she took in her surroundings. "Where am I?" It took her a while to realize that she had been laid out upon a bed that had the pillows thrown everywhere and the blankets messed up. To her right had been a small desk with a lamp producing light for the room as well as a wall right in front of her. Along the wall, to the end, had been a wooden door with a metal knob attached to it.

To her left had been a slightly bigger desk with a punch of dirty papers. While some had been burned here and there, others had dried blood stains spread across them. Along the desk had been a wooden dresser that had been slightly larger than the usual dresser. What had been mysterious about it was that every now and then it would rock back and forth slightly.

Next to the dresser had been another wall that held a mass array of pictures; some being small while others were larger. All of them, though, had been covered with a large amount of dirt and dust, making them very non-visible.

All the way at the end of the wall had been anther wooden door, except this one had a miniature control panel right beside the door. It had been an electronic scanner that had digits below it in which had to be entered in order to unlock the door beside it.

Right in front of Shadow had been a little television that had been placed onto a counter drawer. What was weird happened to be that the television happened to be turned on, yet it had a fuzzy signal to it and displayed only a static picture.

Suddenly, there was a sound of moaning that emanated through the area. The sound had been so familiar, yet it had been different that the other sound heard before in the castle. That led Shadow to realize that she had been in the castle or not. The area had seemed more like a mansion itself rather than a castle.

Shadow knew that she had to get out of the room she had currently been trapped in and get back to the group as soon as possible. Jumping out of the bed, Shadow headed for the door to the left. Approaching the door, she noticed that it had been locked and that the control panel used to open it had been jammed. Looking closely, Shadow could soon see that the panel had screws planted in it in order to keep it together. She knew that her only option in which escaping had been to find the screwdriver hidden in the area.

Heading for the door onto the right side, Shadow looked around the room in hopes to find the screwdriver as she trotted along. Opening the wooden door, it had made a loud creak. She quickly entered the room only to find that the wooden door behind her had just closed automatically.

Looking around the area, Shadow could see that she had stepped hoof into a bathroom that had been completely obliterated. The mirrors above the sink had been shattered while the sink itself had been clogged. The bathtub had been filled with filthy water while the curtains had been ripped and shredded.

Shadow fist headed to the bathtub, where she soon noticed the water in the tub. The sight had discussed her, but she focused onto the task at hoof and, without any restrictions, reached in and unclogged the bathtub. The result of this action had been the water streaming down the drain as the filth of the water got left behind, stuck in the tub.

Looking down one more, Shadow could not believe her eyes. It her surprise, the screwdriver had been stuck at the bottom of the bathtub. Reaching down to retrieve it, Shadow avoided all the rest of the filth left behind by the previously drained water.

As if on cue, the groaning sound heard before was emanated one more as the shaking sound of wood rang in Shadows ears. Sharp as a needle, Shadow put the screwdriver aside as she turned herself around only to find that she had been staring at nothing else but the opposing side of the bathroom.

Trotting to the wooden door of the bathroom, Shadow opened the door and entered the bedroom she had woken up before in only to find the wooden dresser open up all of a sudden. What came out of the dresser nearly made Shadows heart drop.

A pony-like enemy standing on his hind legs fell out of the closet. His entire body had been grey as his head and rear had been hairless. Where his mouth should have been was a tube thing with sharp teeth around the inside of it. There were small pecks onto the sides of his face of where his eyes should have been. What had been completely different about him was that while one of his front hooves had been perfectly normal, the other one had been large and sort of like a club. Some parts of it had been stained in blood as spikes surrounded the arm.

As the creature slowly approached Shadow, she knew that she had to take immediate action. Right as the enemy closed in onto her, she ducked and rushed forward into the opposing direction, avoiding the enemies attack. The result of this had been the enemy colliding head first into the television, literally shattering the glass.

As Shadow got up, she turned her head into the direction of the creature, who had tried his best to get his head out of the television. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't get his head out.

Ignoring this, Shadow headed to the door with the control panel and took out her screwdriver in her mouth once more. Untightening the bolts on the panel with the screwdriver, the lid came off as it crashed to the hard, wooden floor. From there, Shadow could see patches of green dots that had been connecting the wire. She knew that she had to rearrange the patches in order for all of them to be connected to each other.

After a minute of struggling, Shadow had finally managed to succeed in activating the panel. As she moved the last patch together, the lock on the door loosened as it made a click sound, indicating it had been unlocked.

Opening the door, Shadow could see a farther hallway along, as well as a hoof-gun all the way at the end of the hallway. Shadow knew that she would need the weapon sooner or later, so she had retrieved it. Her new mission had been clear to her as she picked up the gun.

Find Dusk.

**Done with another chapter. I know I've been absent for a while, but that was because I've had a lot of homework from the past week. Also, I've been on my school field trip and just got back moments ago (It's been more than a hectic day). Right now, I'm still happy that just the other day one of my PMVCs made it onto EQD. *squee*. Right now, from this point on, I swear that I'll be working on my fanfic more from now on every other day. With that said, REVIEW! **

**(P.S: Just to let you know, the second half of this chapter was from Resident Evil: Revelations in where the protagonist, Jill, wakes up from unconsciousness and all that stuff.)**


	30. Chapter 29 The Hallways of Hell

** Back with another chapter. I got a lot of ideas for future chapters in my head and I'm willing to skip all these chapters just to reach the farther-in ones. Still, a story isn't a story unless it's properly organized and all that stuff. Last time I recalled, the chapter was focused on Shadow mainly, so I'll have to try a different character for this chapter. With that, we shall begin.**

Chapter 29 - The Hallways of Hell

"Well, here we are." Thunders voice ran through the cool, crisp air of the night's sky. Right now, Luna's moon had been overhead the two and shined a sprinkle of light onto the land. Without it, nothing would have been visible nor would they be able to see.

In front of Thunder and Twilight stood a castle-like structure; it's aged stone material covering the walls and gates of the perimeter. Mold grew in some areas of the wall, showing that it had been an old structure itself and had been standing for a while now. On the outside had been a solid stone gate with a large wooden door on the front of it, allowing them to enter and exit. On the inside had been the castle referred to currently as Mystic Cauldron. Some windows had lurked their way onto the sides of the castle while the rest of it had also been made out of some sort of stone substitute. Over at the top of the castle structure had been medieval carvings of all different kinds of creatures hanging off of each of the few tips over at the top of the castle. All the way in the bottom had been another wooden door, except this one had been a lot smaller compared to the size of the one covering the gate itself.

"Mystic Cauldron." Twilight spoke up for the first time in a while. "Let's head in." She announced. With that, Twilight began trotting ahead towards the gate of the castle.

"Um, Twilight!" Thunder tried to get her attention. "I don't think it's a very good idea to..!" He had then realized that Twilight hadn't been listening as she kept trotting forward. "huh." Thunder let out a large sigh before continuing forward with Twilight to the Mystic Cauldron, where they would find their friends, defeat Discord, and maybe even find a little something extra.

* * *

"Damn, this place is dark." Strife pointed out the obvious. It had been one of his main attributes in life that nopony seemed to like nor care for. Currently, the gang had been traveling down one of the many hallways located in the castle. The only problem had been there wasn't much lighting in the area. All there were was a candle or two attached to the wall every now and then. Even the candles hadn't been that bright, causing it to be even darker. Lucky for the rest of the gang, they had Justine, who literally knew the entire castle from the inside out.

"How much longer do we have to travel? My hooves are killing me. This place is too dark. Why can't there be more lighting? If I owned this place the first thing I would do is…." Rarity never even got a chance to finish her whining before Raymond stopped her.

"C'mon, quit your bitchin'." He snapped. Raymond had grown tired at Rarity for every exact thing she said or did. It had been as if her only purpose in life was to not only annoy him, but everypony else.

"Guys, snap out of it!" Justine spoke over the two. She had currently been at the front of the group and had been leading them down the mysterious hallways of the castle. "If you want to confront Discord, you have to learn how to work together as well as communicate with each other."

"W-wait, how'd yall know we were gonna confront Discord here?" Applejack began to shutter as the words slipped out her lips.

"Heh, it's a gift." Was all Justine answered as she trotted some more down the dark hallway. This left a bunch of puzzled faces from the group as they tried to decode what she had just exclaimed.

"Umm, Ms. Justine." Seamus galloped upwards till he had been right next to the red mare. "Is it ok if I ask you one quick question?" His mare-ish voice emanating through the hallways.

"Anything for you, you adorable foal." Justine began rubbing a hoof down the alicorns hair as she spoke.

"First of all," Seamus began, rejecting the hoof across his hair. "I am a colt." His civilized voice being loud enough for everypony to hear. "Second of all, if I might ask, but how do you know this castle so well? Were you trapped in it for years or something?" His curiosity got the best of him as he began spitting out questions at the dazzled mare.

"Well, one could say that." Justine replied as she resumed trotting down the hallway. Seamus was soon close by as he asked yet another question.

"What do you mean by that?" The maroon alicorn asked once more.

"It's more of a family secret, but what's the harm in sharing it with just a few ponies." Justine began. "Long ago, when Equestria had just been a small town off to the side of the Everfree Forest, my father had been looking for a new place to open up civilization. He had grown tired of following the so-called ruled in Equestria, so he decided to move away, to somewhere that would have no rules, to a place where HE could make up his own rules. And he had been foolish enough to follow that dream."

"One day, he had stumbled upon an old estate that we happen to be standing in right now. The sign outside had mentioned it had been "noted for removal", but that didn't stop my father. He headed in to the manner and had bought it from the owner of the place who had wanted it destroyed. Right before he had purchased the estate, the owner had warned him about the mysteries that lurked around the castle. It was rumored that King Henry the fifth had not only built the castle, but lived in it too. But what made it worse was one day the spouse of the King had died in the castle, and ever since then, bad luck appears through the castle. Others believe that it had been the ghost of the wife of King Henry that had caused the manner to be in such a tizzy, but my father didn't believe in all that mystical junk like goblins and dwarfs, so he jumped to conclusion and bought the place. Such a tragic mistake was made that day as my one and only father had purchased what would become as one of the most haunted places in all of Equestria."

"So what happened next?" Pinkie Pie jumped forward till she had also been on the other side of Justine. "Did he die or leave or what?"

"Just, try not to interrupt me, ok?" Justine responded to Pinkie. She had already grown tired pf the pink, energetic mare that it forced her to share her true feelings.

"Like I was saying, after buying the estate, the first thing he did was get to work. For years, he'd been studying the law of science and chemical reactions and all that stuff, but Equestrias laws prevented him from actually experimenting with them. This led him out to find a new place to conduct his experiments, which led him none other than here."

"His main goal when working on an experiment was to find out how it affected the pony body. He tried his experiments on many different creatures, even my mother! But even that didn't work well. Shortly after I was born, my mother died from a chemical reaction after one of fathers experiments. It had been a terrifying loss as all my father did was sit I the corners of his room, sobbing, and waiting for death to hit him too. Then came the day, the day that I not only lost my mom forever, but my dad too."

"He couldn't take the pain of living without the one pony he didn't hate, rather than me. So I saw him reach down under his bed with his two front hooves and take out what seemed to be a briefcase. I then saw him open it and take out an object. From there, my heart stopped as I could see what he had been trying to do."

"Out from the briefcase came a simple handgun as my father lifted it into the air with one hoof. In the other hoof had been ammo as he placed it into the slot and loaded it. Before doing anything else, he put the metal ring near the trigger in his mouth, bit down hard on it, and yanked. This caused the ring to break off, allowing the trigger to be pulled with his own hoof."

"Holding the gun up to his head, he looked around his bedroom once more until he noticed me outside the door, peering in through the cracks. At that point, I had tears falling down my eyes, begging him not to do it, but all he did was look at me with those cold, dead eyes. All that managed to come out of his mouth were the words "I'm sorry". With that, he pulled the trigger of the gun. I had closed my eyes at the moment, shielding them from the horror just a few feet away from me. "

"When I had opened them, what I saw was none other than the corpse of my father lying on the damaged wooden floor. With that, I quickly opened the door fully and dashed right in to get a better glimpse of the situation. The thing as a whole had been terrible. In my father's head had been a large gash that went through his entire head. Blood lurked out as if it had been a waterfall. My father's eyes had been slightly open as his mouth was fully shut. The first thing I did was check to see if he had been still alive or not. Placing a hoof over his chest, I felt no beating or pumping of any sort. Tears streamed out of my eyes even more violently than before as I realized my father had been dead. That I had not only lost my mother, but also my father too. I had now been an orphan, a sad, desperate, tearful orphan. I couldn't face the facts of my father being dead, nor did I want to."

The group fell silent as Justine continued her story. A tear began lurking out of her eye as she went on.

"Ever since that tragic day, I've been running this castle. Someponys got to look over it, after all. But what makes it harder is that before emit father committed suicide, he used to experiment a lot on his subjects, and often, they would go mutant or something, when this happened, we would put them in a cell underground that was protected by my father's magic. But ever since he passed away, the barrier for the cell broke away and all the experiments broke loose. The good thing is that they can't stand sunlight, but the bad thing is they won't leave the castle. All I do every day is hide around, hoping not to get found and captured. Lucky for my, your little friend came just in time." Justine announced, pointing a hoof towards Blur. "I would've been minced meat if it wasn't for him."

"But, that doesn't even add up." Snake exclaimed. "Why did your father conduct experiments on innocent creatures, INCLUDING your mother? And out of all, where is Discord in this entire scheme?"

"Were here." A low-voiced Justine had answered. In front of her had been a gigantic wooden room that had been around thirty feet high and forty feet long. On the floor had been the same luxurious carpet that was seen at the beginning of the castle. Over on the ceiling had been a gigantic chandelier made out of solid gold that lit the entire room.

Over at the end of the room had been on large throne that had been occupied. It had been a large, pony-like creature with a deer antler on the right of his head, a goat horn on the left of his head, one long fang hanging out of his mouth, different-sized pupils as eyes, a snake tongue, and a beard hanging off his chin. He has the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, he has a bat's right wing, a Pegasus' left wing, and a snake's tail.

The beast as a whole had been a terrifying creature as it sat humbly on its throne and looked at the gang as if he had known them all his life. Everypony began cringing as Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Discord," She said softly to herself. "I found you."

**Done with another chapter. Just to let you know, now is the beginning of the contest. Before anything, let me go over the rules once more. Your objective is to write the next chapter of this fic. The minimum amount of words is 2,000 and the maximum is 5,000. What you are writing about is the battle between the gang and Discord. You can't go any farther than the battle itself. Let me just begin by saying you can only use characters that already confronted him (you can't use Fluttershy/Shadow, Dusk, Thunder Ice, Twilight, or Justine since she can't fight). The good thing is that you can have any character defeat Discord if you want. (ex: if your OC is Strife, you can have him defeat Discord). Just remember that this is a team effort and that you have to have the other characters at least help defeat him. Also, you cannot add any new characters or anything. Just use what you have. Still, intense gore and sex in a big no no. This is meant to be an action chapter, not a romance one (although there will be those later on). No character deaths are allowed too. In addition, you can also add any song you want to the chapter. Just post a link in it. Just to let you know, the chapter may be subjected to change if I need to add or take out bits or if I want to add or remove a song. **

** Now that we covered the rules, let's get to everyponys favorite part: the prizes. The winner will not only get their chapter published, but also will receive a PMV of their choice. They'll be able to pick any song that hasn't been made into a PMV yet and give them to me and…. Out comes the PMV. Simple enough. **

** The due dates for the chapter would probably be around the next five days. I'd say on Wednesday or Thursday (depending what mood I'm in). When you complete the chapter PM (private message) it to me.**

**Good luck everypony, and I hope to see what you truly are capable of writing.**

** (BTW: thanks to DWhay on fanfiction for editing) **


	31. Chapter 30 Confrontations With Chaos

**And now the time you've all been waiting for: BATTLE TIME! Let me start off by saying that this chapter happened to be done by DarkWold over on FIMFiction! I salute him for entering the contest as he had been the grateful soul who won the contest and got his chapter published. (as if anypony else entered) With that said, we shall begin.**

Chapter 30: Confrontations With Chaos

/watch?v=J7cZws90AOk

(copy and paste link in new tab on youtube)

"Well, hello there! It seems like its' been so long, hasn't it?" Discord began, his voice echoing off of the stone walls.

"Discord! You… you'll have to pay for all the damage that you've done!" Rainbow shouted out at the top of her lungs.

"Ah, so THAT'S why you're here. Well, I am sorry to say that whatever you were planning to do will not end well." Snake commented.

"Why, why have you done this to us?" Rarity asked with a distressed tone.

"Why? Why, my dear, it's quite obvious if you use that worthless head of yours. You all hate me, so in return, I hate you! I just, upped the ante. You know, a little payback?" Discord's words flew through the stuffy air like water down a stream. "How foolish had you been to actually think some pathetic pieces of scrap metal and gems could actually keep me imprisoned in stone for so long. It had been a futile mistake that won't be your last."

"You're getting payback by KILLING everypony in sight?" Rainbow asked as she yelled out the question.

"Well, basically, yes. Seemed like the most chaotic thing to do at the time. Still does, now that I think about it. Why, did something bad happen? Somepony you know die? Too bad I wasn't around to see it all go down at the power of mercy and…" Discord had been cut off by the sudden action.

Rainbow Dash was on the verge of bursting in tears, but the only thing keeping her in control was what usually pushed ponies out of control: Pure rage. She rushed forward towards Discord with as much speed as possible. Discord did not flinch or move in any way. All of a sudden, an invisible force field appeared in front of him, resulting in Rainbow running head first into it at full speed. The impact caused Rainbow to be instantly knocked unconscious as she slumped back to the floor motionless.

"Rainbow!" Rarity shouted out as she levitated her back over towards the group of friends. Snake, almost going over the edge, tried to rush Discord as well, but was held back by Raymond.

"LET GO OF ME!" Snake called out as he tried to break free. "I CAN DO THIS!"

"Don't be stubborn." Raymond responded. "You'll just end up the same as Rainbow over there!" He said as he pointed a hoof towards the unconscious cyan mare. It seemed to cool Snake down slightly.

"Well, this is rather interesting indeed…" Discord started. "I must say, this is just like old times! Let's bring back something familiar, shall we?"

He snapped his claws together and the room began to expand at an alarming rate until the sides hadn't been visible anymore. Then, walls began to fall from the ceiling, separating each pony by themselves. They extended all the way to the roof, as to prevent anyone flying over.

"Look familiar to any of you?" He called out.

"No…" Applejack thought out loud. It was a maze. Just like the maze when they originally fought Discord in the Canterlot gardens.

"This will be fun, and don't worry!" Discord called out again. "At least I am not taking your horns and wings this time! But those who don't have them, well, all I say to you is good luck."

"What the HELL is going on!" Snake called out, followed by similar shouts of distress and panic from everypony else. He had never been with the mane 6 the first time they confronted Discord, meaning this had been completely new to him.

"It's a maze!" Rarity called out to the others.

"A maze? What do you mean a maze!" Snake responded, a hint of rage in his voice.

"She means a maze you dumbass!" Raymond called out from somewhere distance. "You know, wander around aimlessly until you find the exit?"

"We need to figure out a way to get to the other side!" Lightning yelled out.

"Oh, you don't say?" Strife retorted.

"Um… what do I do?" Pinkie's voice cut in.

"Just stay there. You'll end up being more trouble than help!" Raymond called back.

"Wait, where is Rainbow?" Applejack called out from somewhere in front of Rarity. The entire place had been in a catastrophic frenzy as everypony screamed across the corridor.

"Miss Sleepy-Head is over here with me!" Pinkie called out from somewhere.

"You know, It'd be a lot more beneficial if you get a move on!" Discord's voice boomed through the maze. "I got a feeling you all aren't alone in there!" His voice trailed off into a distant laughter. Then, silence fell amongst the group. After what seemed like ages, Discord spoke up again.

"In other words, that means go!"

At the same time, each one of the ponies galloped up down their corresponding part of the maze. Pinkie tried to pick up Rainbow, who was still out cold with a giant bruise over the top of her head.

"Come on, you!" She said as she lifted her up onto her back and began to trot off into the maze. "We're outta here!"

Each of the ponies continued on forward as they got deeper and deeper into the maze.

"Dammit!" Snake yelled out in frustration as he hit his 3rd dead end. "Is there just no way out of this damned thing?"

"It's only been around 30 seconds!" Seamus called out to him. He had been right across from the green Pegasus. All that blocked the two was a giant wall that uplifted itself towards the ceiling of the room.

"Yeah, 30 valuable seconds! Seconds count right now!" Snake yelled sarcastically. "We need to hurry the hell up and get out!" Snake put that fact aside and began galloping in the opposing direction that he traveled in previously.

"Maybe if you tried to actually examine the maze instead of just rushing forward, you would have better luck." Seamus responded. "And by the way, we have wings, why don't we use them?"

"Hey, get off my back!" Snake mentioned. "You can try that, but you will be stuck in here forever! And as for the usage of wings, it's pointless! The walls are too high to fly over! We're just gonna have to play by the rules in order to escape this death trap!"

"Guys! Just shut up!" Lightning's voice called out, although it was very faint. "Talking isn't going to get either of you anywhere!"

Before a response could be given, a bone-chilling scream resonated throughout the maze, causing everyone to stop and fall silent.

"Who was that?" Seamus called out, but there was no response. "Hello? Snake? Rarity? Anypony?"

"Shut up!" Snake retorted. He was trying to listen carefully as to where it came from. After about a minute, another scream echoed out. This time, it was slightly fainter.

"Ok, it's moving away from us." Snake said as he began to fly off into the next pathway.

"Wait, what about Rarity and the rest of the gang? They could be in trouble!" Seamus yelled.

"And WE aren't in trouble?" Snake's fury began increased every second as he grew anxious to escape the maze.

"Well…" Seamus couldn't think of the answer.

"Exactly! The only thing we can do now is to have high hopes of getting out!" Snake responded. In hopes of ending the conversation that was burning valuable time, he galloped off without waiting for any more questions.

Seamus stood in place for a moment, thinking of what to do. Ultimately, he eventually gave in and began to head down the path he was on at a faster pace this time, taking Snake's advice.

After a couple of minutes, Rarity found herself on the run from some unknown creature following her through the maze. It continued to make a high pitched screaming sound that pierced the air. It looked a lot like that zombie-pony that they had encountered earlier. Its jaw sank low, exposing its mouth as it wobbled back and forth while moving. She turned around and shot a bolt of magic at it, but it quickly jumped out of the way, barely hindering his advance. The zombie-pony's quick reflexes made him nearly impossible to harm.

"Help! Somepony, help!" Rarity called out, but no response came back to her. After a couple more turns, she ended up at a dead end. She turned herself around to see the zombie pony slowly approaching her, as though it was mocking her. Rarity shot another bolt of magic, but it simply moved out of the way with lightning fast reflexes. As a last ditch effort, Rarity placed a shield between her and the zombie-pony. At first, it seemed to be working rather well. The zombie-pony did not know how to react exactly, and kept running into the shield head first in an effort to break it. She knew she couldn't keep the shield up forever and would eventually need to rest.

"Help!" She called out again. This time, she received more than just a response. Behind the zombie-pony, Strife came out from behind a corner and tackled the zombie-pony to the ground with great force. Rarity broke the shield and quickly galloped away to a safer position. Strife had been putting up a great fight, throwing hoofs into the zombie-pony relentlessly.

"Hit it with your magic when I say to, okay!" Strife called out to her, but did not wait for a response. He then took out a small dagger from hid side and gripped it tightly in his left hoof. In the meantime, he had pinned down the zombie-pony to ensure there would be no escaping. Strife had then brought his hoof down lower until it fiercely connected to the zombie-pony's rough, leathery skin. With great force, Strife pulled the dagger down the chest of the enemy, leaving a lager incision onto the previously deceased beast. As the zombie-pony tried with all its efforts to wiggle loose, it had been pointless. Strife had already cut a large gash in between his chest, exposing a heap load of solid blood as well as what seemed to be organs as well. Strife then threw the enemy against the nearest wall and shouted for Rarity to fire her own magic.

As if on cue, Rarity shot a bolt of magic directly at the zombie-ponies wound over its chest. Before the abomination had time to react, the bolt smashed into its chest, causing it to swell up. The zombie-pony began to shake violently as it had malfunctioned like a robot. Crashing into the walls and floor, the enemy couldn't think straight, and soon fell to the ground helplessly, signaling that it had been defeated.

"Th-Thank you…" Rarity stammered out. She had been breathing heavily for that sudden use of magic. It drained a large portion of her energy as she gasped for more air.

"No problem, but we got to go! I think I found the way out!" Strife responded as he grasped Rarity's hoof with his own and pulled Rarity along with him back into the deep confines of the maze.

* * *

"Ugh, wha…? Where am I?" Rainbow muttered as she rubbed the top of her head, causing a searing pain to shoot through her body. "AHH! What, happened!"

"You're awake! Finally, I was starting to get a little tired of carrying you around!" Pinkie responded in a rather cheery tone. She kneeled down to allow Rainbow to get off of her back. She had a little trouble standing at first, but Pinkie helped keep her standing straight.

"Thanks…" Rainbow said, still rubbing the top of her head.

"Any idea on how to get out?" Pinkie asked. :I mean, this place is too dark to see anything. Too many walls if you ask me. Who builds a maze in order to trap someone anyway? Seems like a dumb idea, don't you think?"

"I just woke up, I don't know where we are!" Suddenly, Rainbow stumbled up to her hooves again. "Hold on a sec, where… where are we?"

"Oh, I forgot! You didn't hear! Well, we are in a maze because that meany, Discord, trapped us all here. Thought, it would be funny or something, like a reference to when we first fought him in the Canterlot Gardens. I don't know what he sees in it though, doesn't really seem that funny to me! Just what is he trying to achieve by doing this?"

After hearing this, Rainbow immediately turned around to check and see if her wings were still there. Seeing that they were, she relaxed a little bit.

"Yeah, he didn't take wings and horns this time around. Don't know why." Rainbow sighed aloud. "Well, we need to go. If this is just like it was at Canterlot Gardens, he will try and manipulate us like he did before. This time though, we will be expecting it, and I WONT let him do it again!" Rainbow announced proudly.

"Okie-Dokie-Lokie!" Pinkies cheery voice had been as usual.

"Let's go! We need to find the others!" Rainbow shouted out as they both turned and began to trot off into the maze.

"This maze has too many dead ends, if you ask me." Raymond mumbled to himself. "Is this amusing, or what?"

"Raymond? Is that you?" A voice called out in the distance. He remained quiet though, not sure if it was a trick or not.

"Raymond? Anypony there?" It called out again. The voice was a little more recognizable though. It sounded so familiar to him.

"Seamus, that you?" Raymond finally responded.

"Raymond? Where are you? I lost track of Snake!" Seamus shouted.

"Don't know, maybe in a maze." Raymonds sarcasm had been activated. "All I see beside me are walls."

Seamus had soon gone quiet all of a sudden.

"Seamus?" Raymond called out, but there was no response. All of a sudden, a hoof came out from behind Raymond and pulled him to the ground. Raymond was about to start cursing for the sudden action, but someone shoved their hoof over his mouth, preventing him from speaking

"Shhhh! Stay quiet! It's a trick." The pony behind him said. He instantly recognized the voice. It had been Snake.

"How do you know?" Raymond whispered back. Snake had gently removed his hoof over Raymond's mouth.

"'Cause Seamus is right behind me." He responded. Raymond turned and looked behind Snake, and sure enough, Seamus was standing behind one of the corners.

"Raymond? Where did you go?" The imitation of Seamus called out again, but it sounded much closer.

"What do we do?" Seamus whispered to them.

"Nothing, we wait for it to go away. If it finds us…" Snake began, but before he could finish, another one of those demented zombie-ponies appeared around the corner in front of them.

"Nevermind!" Snake yelled out as he rushed forward and crashed into the side of it, causing it to stumble to the ground. It got up with amazing speed and returned the favor by crashing into Snake. Raymond ran forward as well to help Snake, while Seamus stayed a little ways back watching. Even though it was two on one, the zombie-pony fought back with tremendous strength and agility, almost outmatching both Snake and Raymond. It had been a tricky battle for both Snake and Raymond since they didn't have any weapons to work with.

Eventually, the two of them were able to come up with a way to confuse it by having one of them run at it head on to distract it while the other flew up and came down on its back. There wasn't much room in the in the path, so they had to make very precise turns and actions or else they would run into the walls. Finally, they were able to knock it down once more, having it fly over towards Seamus. It hit the ground with a very loud thud, but was almost up instantly. It turned towards Seamus, who reacted by turning around and bucking it straight between the eyes. It fell backwards where Snake finished it off by taking out his sincere weapon from around his waist: The Golden Ray.

Aiming precisely at the head, Snake had shot it out, causing the head of the zombie-pony to literally implode. Blood and gore leaked out of its neck as Snake admired at what he had just done.

"Heh, I forgot I even had this in the first place." Snake said, polishing his weapon.

"Idiot." Raymond mumbled to himself in the meantime.

"There, it's dead. Can we go now?" Seamus asked.

"I agree, we need to find the exit, or at least everypony else." Raymond responded.

"Fine, let's go." Snake agreed.

"Hello? Who's there?" Another voice called out. The group turned around with a start, prepared for another attack. After a few seconds, out walked Justine. "Oh, thanks goodness I was able to find somepony else! Even though I am more than capable of finding my own way out of this maze."

"Sure you are." Raymond rolled his eyes at the red mare.

"What are you doing? We told you to stay back!" Snake hissed at her.

"Well, you try to stand by yourself in the middle of a maze while hearing screams and yelling everywhere around you! I freaked out and ran off, okay?" Justine stated.

"Ugh, who cares? We need to get a move on!" Raymond shouted out to the group.

"Yeah, besides, there is strength in numbers." Seamus pointed out.

"For the love of…. ugh, fine! But stay close to us and out of our way, got it? You trail behind or decide to go off on your own, we aren't coming back for you!" Snake responded with a hint of anger. Justine merely nodded her head in response. With that, they all set off.

After about 5 minutes and another 10 dead ends, they heard hoof steps echo nearby. Each of them stopped dead in their tracks, listening carefully for the location of the sound. It kept getting louder and louder until it seemed it was right on top of them. Each began to spin around frantically looking in every direction. From behind them, they heard a voice call out to them.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" the voice rang.

They all turned around to see Strife and Rarity standing several yards away at another intersection. Both groups ran towards each other and met one another half way.

"Well, who are we missing now?" Strife asked.

After a quick head count, Rarity gave the answer.

"If I'm not forgetting anyone, the only 6 we are missing are Rainbow, Pinkie, Lightning, Blur, that DJ guy, and Applejack."

"We can try to look for them on our way to the exit, which none of us have seemed to have found yet." Raymond said.

"Not true, I think I figured out how to get out." Strife said, causing everyone to turn to him for an explanation.

"How?" Seamus asked.

"Well, there seems to be a pattern to the maze, and not just random walls here and there. I always find hallways that continue for about 10 yards and then turn right, followed by another left turn that goes for about 10 more yards, and repeat."

"So, you think that it leads out?" Raymond asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's the only thing that appears to have order to it." Strife replied, positive of his assumptions.

"Well, we are talking about the lord of chaos here…" Snake pointed out.

"We don't have anything better to go off of. I say give it a try." Rarity defended.

"Oh, what the hell. There isn't anything better to try, anyway." Raymond said, showing his approval of the plan. "Lead the way, Strife."

Once again, now with a much larger group, they set off in hopes that Strife's idea would lead them to freedom. After 10 minutes, the paths began to widen out further until they found themselves outside the maze in the same stone room they started with. Discords throne sat lonely in the middle of it, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Yes! We did it!" Seamus cheered.

"Where is Discord?" Snake asked scanning the room intently.

"Well, perhaps you all aren't as dumb and foolish as I had originally presumed." Discords voice boomed out, causing everypony to jump.

"Discord! Show yourself you coward!" Snake yelled out. They all turned around to see Discord relaxing on the previously empty throne. He had teleported himself there with ease as he looked at the gang, or what had been left of it, with trickery in his eyes.

"I honestly am surprised to see you made it out in one piece. I was expecting you all to be dead within the first couple of minutes. By the way, where are your other friends? They seem to be still missing. It would be such a shame if something were to , say, happen to them, would you not agree?"

"You won't touch them!" Rarity shouted out, something she did very rarely. Her horn lit up and she sent out a burst of magic at Discord, only to have it dissipate as Discord held out a claw and had the beam literally burned in front of him.

"You see, I learned a few tricks her and there while you were all away. One of which is how to control some simple magic without the need of a horn, such as to stop the flow of magic itself. Looks like you can count unicorn magic out!"

Out from behind him, Rainbow Dash jumped out and tackled Discord to the ground while he was distracted, followed by Applejack charging forward as well, while Pinkie galloped over towards the other group. Lightning, Blur, and DJ Fiiasco all came out normally as they stood at the back fo the group, watching as Rainbow charged towards Discord.

Seeing Discord caught off guard, Snake, Raymond, and Strife both shot off towards the fight that had broken out. Even though they outnumber Discord, he was by far more powerful than any of them. Rarity used her magic to shoot some bolts at him, but most were defected or missed entirely. Snake and Rainbow kept dealing some good blows here and there, but to no avail. Each one of them failed to do any serious damage. Discord just knocked them out of the way if they got to close.

"It's no use… we can't beat him!" Applejack said between deep breaths.

"Well, how was it that you conquered him in the last encounter?" Raymond asked, panting as well.

"We used the Elements of Harmony, but we don't have all of them. We're missing Twilight and Fluttershy." Rainbow pointed out.

"Well, is there any other way to beat him? We can't keep doing tiny little blows here and there forever!" Seamus acknowledged.

"You don't say?" Strife began making fun of what Seamus had just said.

"I think I have an idea." Rarity spoke out. "Keep him busy!"

"No prob!" Raymond responded as he darted back towards Discord and knocked out one of his legs.

Rarity turned to Seamus who was standing over with Justine and Pinkie, watching the situation unfold.

"Seamus, you have got to stop Discord! You are the only one who is powerful enough!"

"Wha… me? How? I barely have any skill with magic or flying. How am I, an ungrateful alicorn, supposed to beat a God?"

"You are an Alicorn! Alicorn's are gifted with powerful magic at birth! Your magic is the only magic here to stop him, or at least trap him! The Princess's did it long ago before we were even around!" Rarity yelled.

"But, those were the Princess's! I am not like them!" Seamus pointe out.

"You're right! You're not like them. You're BETTER than them" Rarity proved. "Just think, you were trained by the most experienced souls of all of Equestria! There isn't even a doubt that you can't bring a God to his own knees!"

A thousand emotions began to swim around in Seamus's head. Moments of panic, dread, confusion, courage, sadness, and many more all releasing themselves at the same time.

"I… I can try!" Seamus responded as he took a couple steps forward. He could see that his friends were beginning to get tired, and Discord was slowly overwhelming them. He dug his hooves into the ground and pointed his horn at Discord. He tried his hardest to form a spell, but each time, it only resulted in a faint spark from the top of his horn. He tried again and again, but to no avail.

"I… I can't do it!" He shouted back at Rarity.

"If you keep thinking that, you won't!" Rarity called back.

He turned back around. The entire fate of Equestria was right here, right now. It could be saved or destroyed, all depending on his actions and the actions of his friends. It was a feeling that he hadn't ever had to feel until now. It seemed to give him a better understanding, a purpose. Once again, he dug in his hooves, and pointed the horn one more time at Discord. Using every bit of energy he had in him, he focused it all into his horn. It began to glow with an intensely bright light that got brighter and brighter. Seeing this happening, everypony began to get out of the way, catching Discord by surprise.

"Wait, what?" He said as he noticed the giant aurora over Seamus's head.

In an instant, a giant beam of light shot out heading directly for Discord. He put up a shield to block it, but the shield instantly shattered under the force of the spell, causing him to be pinned to the wall by it. Seamus didn't know what had been happening, only that he had an urge to keep doing whatever he was doing. He took a couple steps forward to get closer and closer to Discord. The spell became stronger and stronger until it began to act like the Elements of Harmony. Slowly, Discord began to turn to stone, just like he had done the past two times he had been defeated.

"NO! How is this possible! Doesn't matter! Just because you stopped one doesn't mean you stopped all!" Discord announced.

"What do you mean?" Seamus barked at him.

"Heh," Discord began. "In the night's sky, there was only one. His time for ruling has just begun. He is the one who holds the key to all this action. Saving him will only cause a chain reaction. The one in blue is the key to all. If you fail to save him, all will fall! Just remember this: one can be saved, only, from a kiss…" From there, the stone covering had reached the tip of Discords head, freezing him in a solid layer of stone. He fell to the ground as the hard stone collided with the stone ground beneath him.

The spell Seamus was holding up broke, flinging him back and sending Discord, now completely covered in stone, to the ground. Feeling light headed and dizzy, Seamus passed out on the cold stone floor. He could make out a faint conversation before he went under.

"Is he dead? Did he get him?" A voice had been emanated from the back for the group

"Yeah, I think he did!" Another voice called out.

"What did he mean by what he just said earlier?" Seamus thought to himself. "Just remember this: one can be saved, only, from a kiss." The words rang through his mind as if a bell had gone off in his head.

Suddenly, there was a crumbling sound as everypony turned around to see what it had been. The stone walls of the maze began to sink down to the ground as the maze, as a whole, disappeared slowly. Once all the ash cleared up, what stood in front of the group had been two ponies: One was a lavender unicorn while the other had been a dark blue one. It took a while to realize two the two had been, but Pinkie had been the one to realize first,

"TWILIGHT!" She screamed before running up to her and giving her a large hug with her hoof. All Thunder did was watch from a distance as he began to back away slowly, trying to avoid a hug from the pink pony.

"What happened here?" Twilight asked, looking around to see the ash and debris from the already collapsed walls of the stone maze as well as the stone figure of Discord lying on the floor next to the throne.

"Oh, nothing much." Seamus replied. "But there's something I need to tell you guys. Something that I, myself, don't clearly understand yet. And that's where you guys come in."

**Done with the 30th chapter. I must say, this was a perfect timeing to put the first boss confratation.I'd also like to wsay that I'm around 1/5 done of the story, maybe even more! The song used in this chapter was the Hang Castle part B theme from Sonic Heroes. I needed some sort of scary theme that wasn't too sacry, and this song fit the bill perfectly. Also, I'd again like to thank DarkWolf on FIMFiction for writing most of the chapter. His writing is more than good and I suggest that you read more of his stories (if he has any). This chapter was composed of him doing 75% of the work and me doing 25% (so teher are some references of my work in certain places. Also, I'm not gonna be here for the next 5 days, so I won't be updating for a while. Now, I'd like for everyone to comment and like this story if you want more! **

**YEAH!**

* * *


	32. Chapter 31 Wreckage of a New Rebirth

**Back with another update. The last chapter had been a hell of a chapter with the defeat of Discord and all, so now I decided to spice things up some more. I decided to take this story in form a new perspective and see how it goes. Before asking any questions on what I mean by that, just read the chapter itself.**

Chapter 31 – Wreckage of a New Rebirth  
The sun lowered over the horizon as the moon began to cover its rightful place for the night shift. Most of Equestria had already been in a catastrophic state knowing that Discord had done all of this. However, after his own defeat, the rest of the gang had realized that it hadn't been Discord who had been behind all of these "twist and turns", it had been somepony else. Somepony who they were bound to find soon. But that was to wait for another day. Right now, they had somepony to save. Somepony, who would save them in return.  
Over at the peak of Canterlot Castle stood what was now left of the main corridor. Out of all things in Canterlot, this had been the only thing that had still been standing. Everything else had been either burned down or crushed to bits.  
A ceremony had been held in that specific area. Ponies across the entire town had gathered into the facility to watch one of the most memorable moments in Equestrian history: the Crowning of a new ruler. This had been an event that happened when either a princess had decided to "hang up her coat" or when they had been lost forever. In this case, word spread around the large city that Princess Celestia had died over a month ago and that they had made way for a new ruler. Somepony who would not only control the government and fixed damaged property, but also to shield out all intruders that dared to enter Equestria. It had been a crucial time for all pony kind, so they needed what was best for them. They needed somepony who would fight for their freedom and protect them day and night. Somepony to control Celestia's sun and Luna's moon. Somepony who could do all that and more. But no pony knew that in the end, he wouldn't just be saving Canterlot, he'd be saving the entire world itself.  
As the royal guards too their positions on the outer barrier of the castle to insure no intruders or enemies would break in, every single resident of Canterlot made their way in through security and took a seat in the massive dome-like structure. The royal family, or what had been left of it, also got ready, as they were scheduled to perform the ritual of crowning a new king, queen, prince, or princess. It was a tradition that had been passed down from family member to family member and had been going on for the past hundred centuries.  
The sound of trumpets went off as the band in the back of the area went off. This signaled that the ceremony had just begun. As everypony took a seat, the royal family had positioned themselves on stage. All the way to the right had been Shining Armor, Cadence, and even their daughter, Raindrop. To the right had been Luna, with a couple of the royal guards as well. Ever since the loss of Princess Celestia, Luna had refused to talk to anypony, even herself. It had been a sign that she hadn't been able to live without her sister by her side.  
The lights of the stage gleamed with light as everypony could see the royal family up on stage. They hadn't been wearing and special kind of uniforms or dresses. It had just been their normal selves. When a princess was to give up her time, everypony was to be dressed formally, but when it had been a loss, nopony bothered about their own appearance.  
Suddenly, there was a slight trotting sound that was emanated around the area. Everypony turned around from their seats to see three ponies walking down the aisle. In the front had been an original blue Pegasus with a flattened black mane running down his neck and a slightly trimmed tail. His cutie mark had been a full musical note in dark blue, which stood out against his coat. His wings had been folded inward against his body and had been groomed multiple times in order for them to stay in place. Behind him had been two of the royal guards. One had been a white stallion with pure white hair and purple armor and a gold bracelet while the other had been a grey stallion with black hair and the same kind of armor as the other stallion. Both of them had been buff creatures and could easily take out anypony in the room if they tried to do harm to any of the royal family.  
As the blue pegasus approached the end of the aisle, he came to a sudden stop as he turned his head to look up at the midnight alicorn in front of him. He began to examine her closely as his eyes met with her. She had a smooth dark coat that ran through her body as well as a light blue mane with a clear border around it. Like Princess Celestia, her mane also moved in wavy patterns, even if there wasn't any wind. Her eyes had been a mysterious color of a dull green as her cutie mark was a crevice of the moon with dark blotches around its lower left side. Her unicorn horn and wings had been longer than the average pony, showing that she had been meant for royalty, though it was another aspect in life she took for granted.  
The sound of trumpets came to a stop as everypony had settled in and the ceremony had been ready.  
"We are gathered here today," Princess Luna began in her much calmer and quiet voice. "To welcome our new Prince of Equestria." She had lifted one of the blue pegasus's front hoofs with her own as she continued. "Ever since the loss of my dear sister," Luna began to shed a tear. "I've been drowned in hope and sorrow, awaiting somepony else to take her rightful place. But today, today is the day we welcome somepony new into the royal family. Somepony who will put others first, rather than himself. Somepony who will keep us ponies in Equestria, and monsters out. Somepony who will help us rebuild our damaged society so we can live once again." From there, Luna dropped the pegasus's hoof. Raindrop, the daughter of Shining and Cadence, who had only been two, galloped up to Luna, and handed her the sword that she had been holding in her mouth. Luna gratefully took the sword using her alicorn magic as a light aura surrounded not only her horn, but the sword too. It had been a sword covered in solid gold from the tip of it all the way down to the handle.  
As Luna grasped it, she brought the sword carefully down with her magic to the pegasus's left shoulder and tapped it lightly on him once. Then, she lifted in again, but this time tapping it gently onto his opposing shoulder. The entire time, the blue Pegasus had been facing Luna.  
Once Luna lifted the golden sword once more from the Pegasus, she spoke again.  
"I am now grateful to pronounce you," Luna stopped for a short period of time, building tension from the crowd of ponies as well as the guards. After she noticed they had been waiting long enough, she continued. "Prince Blue Bass!"  
As if on cue, bits of the roof began to shatter as dark blobs fell from the sky. What was an audience cheering happily for the new Prince soon turned to fear as everypony began screaming and galloping around the corridor in horror.  
Looking around, Blue Bass could see what had fallen out of the sky. Dark pony-like creatures with a variety of holes imprinted onto their body. It had been as if their appearance resembled to Swiss cheese. One by one, they fell from the sky, crashing into the ground below them and leaving a dent in the ground. This caused the entire area to be thrown into a frenzied state as the creatures began to chase the other ponies in the facility.  
Suddenly, there was a loud screeching sound, followed by specks of green light flying around the room. Everypony turned to the location to where the green sparks had been coming from only to see something that shocked their eyes. No more had Luna been herself anymore, rather somepony else. She resembled the qualities of one of those average sized creatures, except this one had been as a large as Princess Celestia and had thin, clear wings on her back. She had obviously been a female, considering her hair had been longer than the usual creature.  
"Queen Chrysalis!" Princess Cadence yelled. "Somepony stop her before it's too late!" From there, the guards began charging toward her with spears pointed directly at her, but it had been futile. Her horn began to glow a bright green as a shield covered the area around her. The result of this had been the guards crashing face-first into the clear green shield and falling to the ground below them.  
"Such trickery, if I must say so myself." Queen Chrysalis spoke up. "Haven't you learned your lesson the first time, foolish subjects?"  
"W-who is she?" Blue Bass asked, slowly backing away from the queen.  
"She's Queen Chrysalis, queen of the changelings." Princess Cadence replied.  
"Queen of the what?" Blue Basked asked once more, still continuing to back slowly away from the disadvantageous being.  
"Queen of the Changelings" Princess Cadence mentioned. "They're these unstoppable creatures who can take the form of any pony they come in contact with. And there's no point in stopping them. There's too many to even keep track of."  
"Then how do we get rid of them?" Blue Bass yelled over the loud screaming and chasing occurring in the room.  
"Oh, I think I know!" Princess Cadence brightened up. "Quick, Shining, we have to perform that previous spell we did earlier to banish her last time."  
"There's no harm in trying." Shining Armor answered. With that, he closed his eyes and leaned in to Cadence. Princess Cadence did the same as she closed her eyes and leaned in as well. Their horns connected as a spark lit between them. It had been a small spark, yet it was a sign of progress. Queen Chrysalis had been too distracted watching her army take over to notice what the two had been doing.  
The spark between the horns grew as the spark had suddenly turned to a line of electricity between the two horns. Dust and thin air began circling the two as they had slowly been lifted off of the ground.  
Higher and higher they rose until they had been around a meter off of the ground. The thin air around them had soon turned to light pink swirls as it continued to circle the two. Right as they felt as if they had enough energy, both Cadence and Shining Armor opened their eyes, which had now been clear. All Blue Bass did was watch from a distance.  
Once the two opened their eyes, they instantly fell to the ground. For some reason, the love spell hadn't been working and backfired on the two.  
Getting up, Princess Cadence noticed that the room had still been in a chaotic state and that their spell didn't cooperate with them.  
"What happened?" Blue Bass asked. "And why didn't the spell work?"  
"I don't know!" Princess Cadence replied. "The first time I casted the spell, it worked perfectly and banished Queen Chrysalis from here. But now, I think she learned her way around the spell."  
"Oh, true, my dear princess." Queen Chrysalis confirmed. She had been facing the front of the area as she watched her army literally devour the community. She hadn't even been facing the others as she communicated between them.  
"What do you want?" Shining Armor blasted at her. "There must be at least some reason you want to take over Equestria again!"  
"What do I want?" Queen Chrysalis turned herself till she had been facing them. She lifted a hoof and pointed it towards Blue Bass. "I want him."  
Blue Bass felt a rush of energy and fear flow through his body right as she mentioned that she had wanted him.  
"B-but why?" Blue Bass began tripping over his own words. "Why do you want me?"  
"Because," Queen Chrysalis began. "There is no way to win a chess game than to capture the opponents king. And you happen to represent the king." The pitch of her voiced hired as she reached the end of her sentence.  
"What?" Blue Bass shouted. "But I'm just a prince! I don't even have the qualities that represent a king yet! Why do you want something as worthless as me?"  
"Well, Celestia's dead, Luna's missing, and you're the next best thing." She said in a soothing voice. "Without you, there is no possible way an already devastated country such as Equestria even has the chance of standing alone. Trust me; with you at my side, we shall rule the kingdom together! It will be just us, nopony else! Nothing can nor will be able to stop us!"  
"What? NO, DON'T TRUST HER! SHE'LL TURN YOU EVIL! DON'T TRUS…" Princess Cadence never got a chance to finish her sentence. What had seemed to be one of the many changelings that turned into a guard had gotten behind her and placed a tight grip on her and put a hoof over her mouth, preventing her from even speaking. All that could be heard was the "mmhmph" sound as she struggled to break free.  
The same thing happened to Shining Armor and Raindrop as changeling guards captured the two. Shining Armor tried to struggle free as well, but it had been pointless since the grip of the changelings had been as strong as steel. Being just a young filly, the only thing Raindrop did was cry in fear as she watched her parents get tangled up in this mess too.  
All that had been left was Blue Bass and Queen Chrysalis. Everything else around them didn't matter as the world had suddenly seemed to fall away into complete silence. Blue Bass had to make a choice; to stay loyal to his subjects and persist in rebuilding the entire community of Equestria, or join the Changeling rebels and live a life as a criminal, ruling alongside one of the most powerful beings alive today. The entire fate of Equestria mattered on this one decision that was forced upon him. No matter what happened, somepony would suffer. Both ways had their pros and cons: staying loyal to his community would earn him respect from his townspeople, but would probably end up getting him killed by Queen Chrysalis. But joining the rebels would consist himself as a criminal. Knowing that would never let him sleep again, ever.  
"Well, what will it be?" Queen Chrysalis asked, looking directly at the blue pegasus. If the pressure of being crowned the new prince of Equestria hadn't been enough, choosing between life and death for him and his community didn't make it any better. Suddenly, the answer had come directly to his mind as he said it aloud.  
"Heh," Blue Bass sighed quickly. "I choose…" He never had a chance to finish that sentence.  
All of a sudden, as if on cue, something else crashed through the window of the area. Glass flew everywhere as one of the murals painted onto the window to the left had been gone. A light blue blur took its place for a second as it fell to the ground.  
The blur came to a stop as it hit the floor below it. It had landed on three hoofs as it reached the ground. Its back leg had been bent as it landed on its knee for one leg and the other leg and hoof touched the ground. The remaining hoof had been sprawled to the side as if it had no purpose in landing.  
The figure had soon gotten up onto all four hooves and looked directly at Queen Chrysalis and Blue Bass. Blue Bass had noticed the figure as well as he began admiring it. Its shape as a whole had been a very sleek figure, showing that it had been a mare. She had on a cyan coat that stood out in almost any area as well as a perfect yet flat rainbow mane and tail that consisted of all the vivid colors of the rainbow. Her mane ran smoothly down her heck as it curved around while its tail dropped low enough to just barely touch the floor. She had on the most beautiful pair of rose eyes and a cutie mark of what seemed to be a puffy cloud that spit out a strike of rainbow lightning. Her own body as a whole had been just spectacular to Blue Bass. It had been something he, himself, has never seen before.  
"Who are you?" Queen Chrysalis blurted out. "You seem so familiar, yet so mysterious."  
All the mare did was let lose a little chuckle as she unfolded her wings and set off around the room in a flash. A trail of rainbows followed her as she passed through the thin air of the corridor. Everything stood still as she made her way around the area, circling even faster and faster. The speed of her flying had been too much for anypony to handle as they grabbed onto seats and walls, trying not to get caught into the pony-made hurricane that had been going on around them.  
Suddenly, the trail of rainbows came to a stop as Blue Bass felt himself be lifted into the air. Opening his eyes, he noticed that what he felt had become true. Looking up, he saw the cyan mare had been holding his hoof with her own hoof and had been gliding through the air. She soon soared out through the previously shouted window as she began to gain speed, still holding carefully onto Blue Bass.  
"Get them, my children!" Queen Chrysalis shouted, pointing a hoof towards the retreating Blue Bass and mare. "Get them!"  
Taking commands, the changeling stopped playing with the harmless citizens and all dove out the already shattered window, following the mare carrying the prince. As the cyan pegasus turned around, she noticed the army of changelings following her.  
"Uh-oh." She said in fear. She began to speed up more and more as the changelings closed in on them. Right now, they had been right above the previously crushed buildings of Canterlot and had only been a few feet above the ground.  
One by one, the changelings dove into the mare, but failed trying. She had been too quick for them to outsmart her. They soon fell to the ground as the cyan mare maneuvered her way out of their reach.  
"Where are we going?" Blue Bass called out from underneath the cyan mare. "And more importantly, who are you?"  
"No time!" The cyan mare responded. "I think we have bigger problems than introducing ourselves right now, especially at this time." With that, the cyan mare flew off into the distance, over the horizon in which the sun had been setting in. Behind them had been the remainder of Canterlot castle, with all the changelings infiltrating the area already.  
"Just because you escaped my trap for now doesn't mean you'll escape it forever." Queen Chrysalis said to herself, looking over into the distance to where the mysterious mare and Blue Bass flew off into. "I'll take in one of the most precious things in your life as of a place to you." From there, Queen Chrysalis turned her head to face the mother and father of Blue Bass. The two had been huddled in a corner, avoiding the changelings traveling around the room. "Let's see how you like it when everything you do doesn't go according to plan." Queen Chrysalis gave out a little chuckle that held an evil tone to it as she thought of what she would do next.

* * *

The cyan mare began painting heavily as her hooves touched the ground. She had been flying a few kilometers distance by now and had been more than just tired. Not to mention that she had been carrying somepony else the entire time.  
All her muscles ached by now as she felt as if she were to pass out by now. She literally collapsed to the floor as her legs gave in on her. She had been too weak to even support her own fragile body weight. All Blue Bass did was observe the creature before him. Every breath she took sent a rush of release through his spine as he could literally feel the hot breath make its way towards his shoulder. Blue Bass knew that just standing around doing nothing wouldn't do anything productive, so he spoke up.  
"Um, if you don't mind me asking specifically, but what's your name?" Blue Bass asked in his casual voice. The mare took in a few more deep breaths before responding.  
"Rainbow," The mare took in another deep breath. "Rainbow Dash." Taking in yet another deep breath, she continued. "You?"  
"Wha...?" Blue Bass questioned. "You storm Canterlot castle, or what's left of it at least, grab me, and just fly off, and you don't even know my name?"  
"Pretty much." Rainbow Dash responded. By now she had regained her stable breathing once more and had gotten back up on all four hooves once more. She had been around the exact same height as Blue Bass had been. "So, your name?"  
"What a mare you are." Blue Bass blurted out. "My real name is Blue Bass. I was given that name legally by my mother and father, but over the past few years, people took the liberty of giving me a more stable, catchy name. So if you want to, you may refer to me as "Ace" for short."  
"Well, Ace," Rainbow Dash began. She started trotting around Ace, closely examining his physical properties. Ace had felt a bit uncomfortable as she circled around him, but he soon gave in and allowed her to do as she pleased. "What does that cutie mark of yours represent anyways?" Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof towards Ace's flank. It had been a solid musical note imprinted onto his flank.  
"Oh, that old thing?" Ace turned his head and neck around until his own eyes caught his cutie mark. "Just some little talent I got from my musical abilities. Nothing major, really."  
"Nothing major?" Rainbow snapped. "Cutie marks are everything major! They're what's given to you when you find your special talent in life, and by the looks of it, yours happens to be music." Rainbow Dash continued to circle around the blue stallion.  
"Well, yeah." Ace added. "But singing and music writing is just a small hobby that is consisted into my own free-time."  
"You sing?" Rainbow asked as her voice rose. She stopped circling Ace in the meantime and had been directly facing him. Her nostril had practically been touching his as he looked into his eyes in a parallel fashion.  
"It's kinda more of a private thing that I do rather than it being public." Ace averted his eyes from her own. They had been beautiful and all, but he just didn't have the guts to look at her, even though they had just met minutes ago.  
"Oh come on." Rainbow Dash stood her ground. "It's not that hard performing in a crowd. Or at least for me, it isn't." She began speaking on and on about herself as Ace watched. It had seemed as if everything around him had all came to a blur as the plain sight of Rainbow Dash herself came to him crystal clear. She stood out of everything as he even noticed her glimmer a little in the descending suns pale light.  
Suddenly, Ace began feeling a weird feeling inside his own stomach. It hurt a little, yet it felt good. It had been a feeling he had never comprehended before.  
"Is this love?" He thought to himself. He knew the term and definition by heart, and had always had a feeling similar to this affection towards his parents, but this had been a stronger, more intense feeling. It caused his heart to beat faster as his mind drifted off. This had been something he had never experienced before: true love.  
Just then, the lighting of the area grew dimmer and dimmer until nothing had been as visible as it was before. The sun had disappeared over the horizon as the moon appeared over the opposing side of the line. The entire moon had been visible tonight, indication that it was going to be one of the very few lucky nights every month.  
"Oh, wow." Rainbow Dash spoke again. "Didn't even notice how dark it had gotten." She then lifted her head and looked back into Ace's eyes. "We have to hide before somepony finds us. Celestia knows what we'll find in the darkest parts of the nights."  
"Agreed." Ace confirmed. "But we first need to at least find some refuge in this collapsed city. There's not enough light to travel anymore either on air or land. We need to rest for the night."  
"Then WHERE exactly do you plan to find a place to camp out for the night?" Rainbow Dash asked, approaching the left side of Ace and leaning up against it.  
"It's called "searching", smarty." Ace began slowly trotting forward. Just as he moved forward, Rainbow Dash nearly fell to the ground as she lost her balance.  
"I suppose we could at least find something to last us the night." Rainbow Dash commented. "Oh. Like this alley way!"  
"Depends what's it there." Ace trotted towards the alley. "It's what's on the inside that matters, not the outside."  
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Rainbow Dash replied with sarcasm. "They've told me that WAY too many times back in flight school."  
"Serves you right." Ace continued. This resulted in a shove from Rainbow Dash as he said that comment.  
Entering the alley, Ace could see what had been a pile of used clothing and household supplies laid out in the alley. In the corner of Ace's eye stood what seemed to be a trap door buried underneath all of the junk. Being courageous and all, Ace dove for the trapdoor and opened it fully. Beneath him had been a sideways path to what seemed to lead to some sort of apartment.  
"Hey, what are you doing over there?" Rainbow Dash called out from a far.  
"Treasure hunting!" Ace replied. "And I think I struck gold!" With that, Ace dove into the trap door. A puzzled look made its way onto Rainbow Dash's face as she saw this.  
"Well, don't just stand there, come on in!" Ace shouted from the bottom. Rainbow wasn't one to just stand in the back of the line, so she dove into the trap door as well.  
Landing with perfect agility, she made her way safely down to the bottom of the trap door to what seemed to be a hallway without the need to un-tuck her wings.  
"Well, would you look at this?" Ace said to himself. He charged down the hallway till he had reached the end of it. A simple ladder waited in front of him as he began climbing it. Rainbow Dash followed close behind as she also climbed the ladder.  
Reaching the top, Ace lifted himself above the ladder as he took in his own surroundings. He had been in what seemed to be an apartment that had been in a chaotic state. Clothes and rags were laying out everywhere, empty beer bottles sat on the floor, but the smell had been so strong, it could almost knock somepony out.  
"Um, a little help here!" A voice called out from behind Ace. He had turned his head to see that rainbow Dash had been having a slight amount of trouble launching herself out from the top of the ladder.  
"Oops, my bad." Ace said aloud as he helped the cyan mare up. He grasped his front two hooves around her own and gently lifted her up.  
"Thanks." Had been Rainbows only response. "So, where are we?"  
"We seem to be stuck in what seems to be what's left of an old apartment." Ace answered. "I know it's not in the best condition, but I think it'll be enough to get us through the night."  
"Well I hope so." Rainbow mentioned. "Say, where's the kitchen anyways? I'm getting a little hungry from flying such a long distance." She began searching the area for the kitchen, as well as some food.  
"I don't suggest doing so." Ace responded. "Who knows the last time this place was occupied. For all I know, all the food in here could be years overdue from its original expiration date."  
"So you're saying I should just starve till morning?" Rainbow looked at Ace.  
"What? Don't look at me." Ace turned his face in a different direction. "What do you expect me to do? Go grocery shopping right now just to satisfy your hunger? If there's anything to be looking for, it should be a place to rest. Now come on and help me find a bed or something. There has to be one somewhere around the apartment." With that, Ace began trotting up the stairs of the apartment till he reached the second floor. Rainbow Dash, as always, had been following close behind.  
After a short while of searching, Ace found a small room that had been the bedroom. It had been no better than the rest of the apartment itself. Empty beer bottles lay across the floor as well as a shattered lamp. There was even a small puddle of dried blood that lured through the wooden floor boards beneath them too. To the side had been a medium sized window that looked over parts of Canterlot. They had been around a few meters high right off the ground.  
In the middle of the room had been an ordinary queen sized bed as well as a blanket that had been messed up and crinkled. The same smell lured through the room as it did through the entire apartment, but neither of the two pegasi seemed to mind.  
"So what, we just sleep on that for the night?" Rainbow questioned, looking directly at the messed-up bed in the center of the room.  
"It's only for one night, just till the sun rises once more." Ace began trotting slowly towards the bed as he examined it more closely. "If you want to go sleep on the streets where all those bug-like creatures are lurking around in the mist of nighttime, then go ahead and be my guest. Nothing is stopping you."  
"Oh, shut up!" Rainbow snapped in a playful voice. She approached the opposing side of the bed that Ace had been on and carefully laid herself down onto the mattress. It had a hardened kind of feeling to it as if it had been covered with a layer of tin foil.  
Rainbow turned herself until she had been facing the opposite side of Ace. She had her back towards the blue stallion as she faced the window overlooking the destroyed city of Canterlot.  
Slowly as well, Ace made his way onto the mattress and laid his back onto the hardened surface. For something that had meant to be soft and comfy had been the exact opposite. Ace, like Rainbow Dash, turned himself till his back had been facing Rainbow. Both had been facing opposite directions by this point. Right as Ace drifted off into a deep slumber from such an exhausting and hectic day, Rainbow Dash spoke up.  
"Why did she want you?" Rainbow Dash turned herself until she herself had been looking at Ace.  
"What?" Ace asked. He, too, had turned himself till he had been facing the cyan mare. Both now had been facing each other in such an ironic fashion.  
"Why did Chrysalis want you?" Rainbow asked once more, except this time with more detail. "Was there a specific purpose to it or was it just to seek revenge on Equestria?"  
"Oh, that." Ace began searching his memory hard for the answer. "She had said something about wanting me to join her side so we can both rule Equestria together. At first, I refused, but then she began threatening me saying that if I denied, then I would have been taken in as prisoner, and worse yet, even beheaded!"  
"But still, out of everypony else, why had it been you?" Rainbow Dash kept throwing questions at Ace. She wanted to get the most info out of him in order to find the real being behind all of this devastation. "Why did she choose you to rule beside her?"  
"Because," Ace went on. "Celestia had been dead, Luna had been missing, and I had been next in line for the throne. She knew that I would be crowned the next prince of Equestria and wanted to take in that opportunity and use it against everypony else. But that's where you came in. If it weren't for you, I'd end up either as a criminal or as a prisoner. Either way, I wouldn't be able to live with myself anymore knowing I was one or the other."  
"Well, all in a day's work." Rainbow Dash accepted Ace's thank you. "But still, one question is still stuck in my mind. Why had you been next in line for the throne? You're not even an alicorn!"  
"Now that's something even I don't know the answer too!" Ace responded. "All I know was I got an invitation saying that I had been accepted as a replacement into the royal family and that my ceremony for acceptance as the new prince of Equestria would be yada yada yada yada. I don't recal anything on the invitation saying why, just when and where."  
"So, you just went with it?" Rainbow Dash questioned.  
"Eeyup!" Ace said simply.  
"But this doesn't even make any sense! I mean, with Celestia dying and all of that all of a sudden. There had to be some sort of reason behind this! Maybe I'm just not approaching this situation in the right manner. Maybe I have to look at it through a different perspective." Rainbow said all at once. "I think I'll have to check in all the info I already have with Twilight."  
"Twilight, who's that?" Ace asked. Now, Ace had been asking the questions rather than Rainbow Dash.  
"Oh, she's this super smart yet nerdy pony who is great with magic and all that junk. She happened to be Princess Celestia's number one student when she had been alive." Rainbow responded. "Heh, I remember when we used to send her friendship reports around every week on our problems on friendship and how we overcame them. Everything back then had just seemed so, so simple. If I could, I'd do anything to go back."  
"To go back where?" Ace asked.  
"To go back to when Princess Celestia had been alive. To when Princess Luna had been in her rightful place. To when there weren't any enemies lurking around at night. To when it had just been me and my friends. To when my parents had been alive. To when everything had been normal." Rainbow Dash began to shed a tear as the thought of all that she lost due to the fact that a new ruler took over her world.  
"Now, don't think that way." Ace began comforting the rainbow maned mare. "Just because everything is like that now doesn't mean it will be like that forever. The future can be altered if we can just control the present. And no matter what, I'll do whatever I can to be by your side. Rain or sunshine, day or night.8"  
"T-thanks." Rainbow Dash tried to cough up the chocking in her sadness as tear by tear fell out of her eye and curved down her cheek. "I think it's time we get some shut-eye, don't you think?"  
"I couldn't agree more." Ace mentioned as he looked at his cyan friend once more before closing his eyes.  
"Oh and one more thing, try not to mention this to anypony ok?" Rainbow spoke up.  
"Mention what?" Ace asked as he opened his eyes once more.  
"That, well, you know," Rainbow Dash had trouble wording her sentence correctly. "That we, kinda, slept in the same, well you know what I mean."  
"Crystal clear." Ace replied.  
"Oh, and whatever you do, don't try and…" Rainbow Dash never got a chance to finish her sentence.  
"I wouldn't even dream of it." Ace interrupted. "Now good night."  
"Good night." Rainbow Dash said finally as she herself closed her eyes.  
A moment of silence passed the two until a loud grumbling sound awoke both of them.  
"Sorry." Rainbow Dash said. "Like I said, didn't eat in a while."  
"Don't worry." Ace spoke up "When morning hits, we'll look for something quick to eat, then we'll be on our way."  
"Thanks." With that, Rainbow drifted off into sleep, her chest rising every now and then as her steady breathing allowed her to sleep calmly. All Ace did was admire the beautiful life that had been in front of him as he observed with only his eyes. Now he knew what life had been all about.  
Now he knew what love really meant.

**Done with another chapter. So far, this has been the longest chapter of the story yet! And what makes it even more of a shocker is that it only took me an entire day to type it all up! Now, let me start off by saying the new character put into this chapter is a new character that will be sooner or later introduced and accepted into the gang. Blue Bass (or Ace) is the character OC of Thurnderhawk6894. He wrote a story using this OC on where he had started off as a human who got transported into Equestria, but I decided to take out the fact that he had originally been a human and replaced it with him being a regular pony. Also, there were a little bits of stirring between Rainbow Dash and him, and their relation will only expand in later chapters. Still, I'm planning on having the next chapter be more focused on Shadow and Dusk since we haven't seen them in a while. And now, I am sad to say that the OC submission will be closed for the next couple of chapters while I make room for more OCs. Song requests are still accepted, but aren't guaranteed to make it into the story. With that, I command you to not only comment, favor, and like, but to also enjoy the chapter and to also reread it if you're in the mood to do so. I'm too tired to even stay awake anymore, so I'll be saying goodnight, and have a happy new year. (JK. I don't know why I put that. Too tired to think straight. NEED SLEEP!)**


	33. Chapter 32 One Intersection Lead to Two

**Blah blah blah blah. That's a good enough opening to work with. Now on to the story! Also, I'd like to give a warm welcome to Mister Moneybags for editing this chapter. Turns out I got a beta reader now.**

Chapter 32 – One Intersection Leads to Two

The sunlight rose over the horizon once more as it enlightened the entire country of Equestria. No more could enemies lurk around in the burning radiance of day. They had been forced back in the underground or towards a safer place where only moonlight shone upon them.

As the light produced by the sun made its way into the bedroom, Ace could feel himself warm up. The sunlight had been directly aimed on him as he slept.

Suddenly, Ace began to blink his eyes, perform a little yawn, and even stretch a little bit in bed. It had all been part of his morning routine.

Once all that had been over, he had opened his eyes to find that the sunshine that spread through the bedroom had coaxed his eyelids into opening. The sun had been beating down on Equestria hard today, maybe even too hard. Ignoring it and putting a hoof above his eyes in order to prevent the intense sunlight from reaching his eyes, he looked over to his side to where Rainbow Dash should have been. To his surprise, she hadn't been there anymore. The bed sheets on her side had been thrown overboard as the door of the bedroom had been open. Ace knew what had happened.

"I guess that wasn't true love after all." He thought to himself. He gets rescued the other day by this mysterious mare who he doesn't know anything about, they talk a little, nighttime, sleep, and then he wakes up to find that she abandoned her.

Getting out of bed, Ace slowly began trotting out the room with his head hung low. Making his way gently down the stairs, Ace passed the kitchen. He hadn't been in any mood for eating right now. But that was until a sudden smell made its way up to him. Deeply inhaling the stench, he could tell that it had been coming from the kitchen.

Trotting backwards a little, Ace could see that inside the kitchen had been what seemed to be food being sizzled onto a preheated pan over the stove… y'know, just a basic routine for cooking. But what he soon noticed afterward was who had been cooking the food.

"Rainbow," Ace pronounced in a shocked fashion. "You cook?"

At the sound of Ace's voice, Rainbow Dash turned around and replied. "Woah! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Her words became a bit muffled as she held a spatula in her mouth by the handle.

"Well, I'm sorry and all, but…" Ace mentioned.

"But what? Never seen an athletic pony cook?" Rainbow Dash announced before turning back around and attending the food once more. "It's a secret hobby that I do from time to time, like your music!"

"Heh, yeah." Ace blushed a little. He didn't really enjoy it when somepony, even Rainbow Dash, poke of his secret hobbies and qualities. "So, whatcha cooking?" Ace approached Rainbow Dash by the stove and looked over to see what was sizzling in the pan. "And more importantly, where did you even get this?"

"Oh that," Rainbow Dash began, putting the spatula aside on the countertop before speaking again. "That's just some leftover hay-wheat and flowers I found over at the grocery store in the distance. The store had already been destroyed, so I just snuck my way in and took what I needed and left, simple as that."

"Where I come from, we have a saying: No mercy for those who steal." Ace mentioned. "Stealing was the number one concern for our community since it occurred just so many times."

"Hey, that wonders me," Rainbow Dash took her eyes of the sizzling food and had now looked directly into Ace's eyes. "Where are you from, anyway?"

Ace could feel himself being pressured as Rainbow looked at him. He didn't like it since it mad him more nervous in the scene, but he didn't hate it either. It was one of her main physical attributes that made Ace "enjoy" her as company.

"Well, um." Sweat began trickling down Ace's forehead as he tried to think up an excuse.

Suddenly, there was a burnt smell that lurked through the room. Ace turned his head toward the food sizzling on the stove to see that it had no longer been sizzling anymore, rather literally burning.

"Look!" Ace yelled, pointing a hoof to the burning food on the stove.

"Shoot!" Rainbow Dash replied, picking up the handle of the pan on the stove, careful not to burn her mouth in the process. She then quickly placed the pan aside onto the table as she released the grip of the handle with her mouth.

"Well, breakfast is served!" Rainbow Dash announced in a somewhat cheery voice.

"Heh, what a feast!" Ace mentioned, looking over at the somewhat burned mixture. "A very, um, unique texture and style it has."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash snapped, turning around to face Ace. "You try cooking something with only a few ingredients that aren't in very good shape!"

"Well, if you say so." Ace had approached the table and took a seat onto the opposing side Rainbow Dash had been on. Rainbow soon took a seat afterwards.

"So, now what?" Ace asked Rainbow Dash dumbfounded.

"What kind of question is that?" Rainbow yelled at him. "It's breakfast time. What do you usually do then? I don't know, maybe eat!" Rainbow began playing with the blue stallion.

"I'd love to, if there was anything edible to have." Ace said, looking at the mixture before him. Rainbow Dash had already been gobbling a portion of it down as if she were a pig of some sort.

"Fine, don't eat. But when you come back crying to me saying that you're starving, see what I say." Rainbow Dash took a moment to spit out those words.

"An event that will never occur in the distant future, my good Rainbow." Ace replied with an English accent to it.

"Oh, shut up." Rainbow Dash said for the third time today.

Silence flew between the two as Rainbow Dash finished eating. All Ace did was watch as she devoured down the food. She ate in some sort of a messy fashion, yet for some reason, Ace found it pretty cute. It reminded him a lot of his younger sister, how she would always dive into food and eat like a monster.

A tear soon shed out of Ace's eye as the thought of his younger sister came to his head. Rainbow Dash quickly noticed this and put down the remainder of her breakfast in order to see what had been going on.

"Anything you want to talk about specifically?" Rainbow Dash asked in a comforting voice, looking at Ace.

'No, it's kinda personal. " Ace responded, wiping away the tear with his hoof. "I'd rather not say."

"Suits yourself." Rainbow said once more before diving back into the small amount of her breakfast. Even though the food she cooked technically hadn't been edible, she still ate with great furry. She hadn't eaten in days and all her energy had been drained. She needed something that would supply her with enough energy for the day, and her breakfast happened to be it.

All Ace thought about while Rainbow Dash ate was how he had lost his parents and siblings when young. All he remembered was a house fire when he was only a colt and how he had been the only survivor. For some reason, the fire went around him. It still had been hot, yet it never came in contact with his hide. As everything in his home had been burned to ashes, including his family, he had been the last one standing. Ever since then, Ace wanted to know more on this special attribute that had been inside him. And he knew that the rainbow maned pegasus before him would lead the way.

* * *

After the two finished up breakfast, or at least Rainbow Dash did, they began searching the apartment for any items they could use along the way. Ace had been able to find a few shotgun shells st the bottom of the closet in the bedroom, but no shotgun. Rainbow had found a small bottle of whiskey in the cabinets of the kitchen, and it still had been valid. She also found a herbal plant on the windowsill that had still been growing, but she decided to take that as well. They didn't know what they would be facing in the future, but they both knew that it was better to come over-prepared than under.

Checking the apartment once more for any tools or anything, Ace found a Swiss army knife in the office room of the apartment. The tip had been a little rusted, but it still had a sharp point. Putting that by his side, Ace checked the office once more for any items he could find that would be advantageous, unlit he came across a set of papers laid out onto the main desk of the office room.

The papers had been slightly crumbled and some even had dried blood on them. Approaching the papers, Ace began skimming through the papers on the desk. Turns out that they hadn't been any normal papers, they had been letters.

Reading them carefully, Ace noticed that they had all been threat letters. It had been a conflict between two ponies as they sent letter by letter back and forth. Taking his time to read, Ace soon found out that the pony that the letter came from had demanded a special type of medication delivered to him. He had gotten the medication for years now, but all of a sudden, the company that made the medication declined his purchase. They happened to find out what he had been using the pills for and had shut down their sales toward him. This maddened the customer as he began writing letters to the owner of the company saying that he would threaten him if he decided to decline his purchase any longer.

They kept on going back and forward with this controversy until the customer called it finals. The rest of the papers had been literally covered in blood from there as Ace had realized what had happened from that point on. Suddenly, there was a shout emanated from the end of the hallway.

"Hey, Ace!" Rainbow Dash called out. "Did you find anything valuable?"

Quickly rummaging through the papers one last time and stuffing them into his saddlebag, Ace turned around and called back out. "Nothin' good here!" With that, he trotted out of the office and headed down the hallway to where Rainbow Dash had been waiting. He had the papers with him and knew that when the time came, he'd have to tell Rainbow Dash. "We better get going before the sun sets again and we have to spend another night here."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "I'd hate to have to camp out here for another night." With that, she turned around and trotted over to where the wooden trap door had been. Opening it, she made her way onto the ladder and slid down it with ease. This time, Ace had been the one following Rainbow close behind.

Coming out of the trapdoor at the end of the hallway, Rainbow Dash found herself in the same exact ally that they had been in last night. He had already been out here before when she went to go take food form an already destroyed grocery store down the street, so the feeling of the warm sunlight had been nothing new to her.

"So, now what?" Ace asked as he too got out of the trapdoor. "Is there a specific place we should be heading in?"

"Well, now that you mentioned it, yeah, there is." Rainbow Dash mentioned. "There's still some civilization still left in Ponyville, maybe we can stay there for a while."

"Hm, Ponyville." Ace thought to himself. "Isn't that the quiet town on the edge of the Everfree forest."

"One would refer to it as that." Rainbow replied as she began trotting forward. "Just follow my lead and we'll be there in no time!" With that, she had unfolded her wings and took off into the warm mornings air. "Come on!" She shouted from the sky.

Ace had done the same routine as Rainbow Dash as he also unfolded his own wings and flew into the air. It had been a while since he last flew and he nearly forgot to fly as he wobbled back and forth through the air.

Regaining his balance in the sky, Ace followed the rainbow trail that Rainbow Dash made from her tail. Off the two had gone in the small little town known as Ponyville. Who knows what new adventure would await them there.

* * *

The wooden door of the library creaked open as Rainbow Dash slowly entered the area. Ace had been following close behind. They had been inside a tree that had a library carved on the inside. It had been not only been the town library, but also the home of one of the smartest and most talented unicorns of all Equestra.

"Hello?" Rainbow Dash yelled through the library walls. "Anypony home?" To her surprise, there had been no response.

As Ace entered the library after Rainbow Dash, he gently closed the door behind himself. The library at a whole had been in quite a good shape. There were only a few books here and there that either hung out of the shelves or were on the polished wooden floor.

"So, now what?" Ace had asked, turning to Rainbow Dash.

"Just make yourself comfortable for now." Rainbow Dash began trotting farther into the library until she reached the stairs over to the side. "The rest of the gang should be here soon."

"The rest?" Ace repeated, taking off his saddlebag off his back and placing it aside near the doorway. "You mean, it's not just you and I here?" Rainbow Dash began blushing violently as she heard that. Apparently, she interpreted that the wrong way as if something were to go down between them.

"Just, just stay down here, ok?" Rainbow Dash said before she resumed trotting up the stairs.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ace shouted towards Rainbow Dash.

"To take a nap!" Rainbow Dash yelled back as she made it to the top of the floor. "It's been a heck of a long day for me. I need more than ever to rest up right now." With that, she leaped up onto Twilight's bed as she landed onto her left side of her back. She didn't even tuck herself under the blankets as she had been already fast asleep. All that Ace could hear by now was the gentle and calm snoring of Rainbow Dash as she slept.

Trying not to disturb Rainbow Dash, Ace gently trotted over to where the basement of the library had been. He knew that if he had been anywhere else, he would have woken up Rainbow Dash, which had been one of the last things that he would want to do. Ace knew that he could have his peace and quiet in the basement as well as Rainbow Dash could too.

Reaching down to the basement, Ace could see that the room had been dimly lit due to there being a simple candle lighting the entire basement. But what Ace saw was that he had not been the only one in the basement.

He could soon see that there had been another pony all the way at the end of the basement. He had been working on a desk near a candle. He had been rummaging through the drawers as if he had been trying to find something specific. The loud clatter noise had been emanated through the entire basement as he did so.

Suddenly, the pony stopped searching through the drawers as he turned his head upwards. He had been facing the opposing direction that Ace had been in as he looked up. The pony could feel Ace's presence as he stopped searching through the drawers.

All Ace remembered was the lights going out as he was literally launched to the nearest wall. He had been thrown up against the hard wooden surface of the wall as the pony that had been by the desk charged towards him. Ace had taken the time to observe the enemy he had been dealing with more carefully before making any more sudden movements.

It took him a while to realize it in the dim light, but he could see that the pony who had pinned him against the wall hadn't really been a pony. It had been a robot of some sort. Its red metal covered where its coat should have been as its dot-like green eyes were stained on me. It seemed to have no mouth, rather a few slits as air holes for its mouth. Its nose curved as if it had been a mare, yet Ace could tell that his had been a male robot.

The enemy had pinned Ace against the wall as he placed his hoofs against Ace's arms to prevent him from moving. All of a sudden, he had lifted his left front hoof into the air, and as an instant, it evolved itself into a razor blade. Ace knew that no good could come from this, so he began struggling harder, but it had been no use. The grip of the enemy had been as strong as hell as it refused to let go of Ace.

"What do you want from me?" Ace asked with a feared tone of voice. There had been no reply as the robotic pony neared him with his razor-like hoof. Ace shut his eyes as he braced himself for what would happen next.

Ace soon felt a blistering sensation on the left side of his body as he opened his eyes to see that the razor blade had been gently cutting along his hide, leaving a trail of blood after it. The enemy kept descending more and more with the razor blade until he had gone an entire foot length.

From there, the robotic pony had pushed the razor blade deep into the hide of Ace. Tears streamed out of his eyes as he let out a wale of pain. Blood flew out like a waterspout as the razor blade had been fiercely pushed into him. The pain had been too much to take, yet he persisted himself to just stay calm as he prayed that everything would be alright. To his luck, it did.

The lights of the basement suddenly turned on as light flooded the area. Taking this at an alarming rate, the robotic pony had quickly pulled out the razor blade drenched in blood and disappeared with the light itself. He dove across the basement as he snuck his way out an open window in the far upper corner of the basement. It had been as if he had been a master of all things stealth.

"What in the name of Equestria is going on over here?" Rainbow Dash snapped. She had a muggy feeling in her eyes, indicating that she had just woken up from a nap. "OH MY CELESTIA!" She soon shouted, realizing what had gone on. Rainbow Dash rushed over to where Ace had been. He had been curled dup into a ball as he tried to cradle the intense wound imprinted onto his left side.

"What happened?" Rainbow Dash snapped. "What went on?"

"Oh, noting major." Ace replied, trying to seem as calm as possible. "Just a slight encounter that nearly killed me and all."

"What?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Who? Who did this?" She placed a hoof around the back of Ace and began rubbing it, trying to ease the pain.

"Well, I don't know specifically, but," Ace began in a sore tone. "At first I thought it had been another pony that I saw, but after I got a closer look, I noticed that it hadn't been a pony, it had been a robot of some sort."

"A robot?" Rainbow Dash said to herself. "Wait a minute, Spectrum!" She said aloud. "Did this specific robot have a red body and dot green eyes?"

"Pretty much." Ace responded. The pain only worsened as air made its way to his already-exposed body.

"But, why?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "What did you even do to tick him off?"

"Nothing really." Ace answered. "All I did was come down here to the basement only to find that he had been in the far desk over there at the end," Ace mentioned, pointing a hoof to where the desk had been. "He had been searching though the drawers of the desks s if he was trying to find something important. As I entered, he must have detected my presence as the next thing I knew, I had been flung against the wall. From there, he began literally cutting me open with his razor blade hoof thingy. If it weren't for you, I would've been completely murdered." Ace thanked Rainbow Dash.

"Still, that doesn't answer my question." Rainbow repeated. "Why did he want to do so? What had he been looking for."

"Now that's where I am of no use." Ace replied. "It just so happens that I have the slightest bit of what the entire purpose of violating private property and nearly killing me had to do with anything. If you ask me, he might have just had a mental breakdown or something."

Suddenly, Ace began to bleed more and more as the blood fell from his left side all the way to the wooden floor he had be lying up against. It literally stained the floorboards as he just laid there.

"Here, we need to get you upstairs." Rainbow Dash announced. "I think I might know where all the medical supplies are. With that, Rainbow Dash gently helped Ace onto all four of his hooves as he slowly assisted him up the stairs of the basement. When they reached the top, Rainbow Dash had been surprised on who she saw up there.

"Guys!" Rainbow Dash yelled out as she noticed all of her friends before her. The entire gang, besides Shadow and Dusk knowing that they had been missing through somewhere around Mystic Cauldron, had just entered the library themselves and had been tired from traveling such a long distance home.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled as she approached her cyan friend. "Where the hay have you been?" She snapped. "And more importantly, who is he? And what is that?" Twilight screamed, pointing a hoof towards the cut alongside Ace's left side.

"Well, if you didn't mind, I'd been out rescuing a new friend of mine." Rainbow Dash answered. "His names Ace and he just so happens to be the new prince of Equestria. Isn't that right Ace?" Rainbow turned to look at the blue stallion.

"Um, well yeah! I am!" Ace added on. "Ever since the princesses of night and day were lost, they needed somepony to take their places, and I happened to fit the bill perfectly."

"Oh, so you're the new prince? How exciting! Wow, I never knew this whole time they had been looking for somepony to replace princess Celestia and Luna. Big shocker if you ask me. Oh and also, now that you're a prince and all, do you govern the entire country. If so, can you add on a day onto each week meant for partying? 'Cause I mean really, life's too boring to not have a party every once in a while, and that makes me sad knowing that there are some ponies out there who have never experienced a party before and that's why they're so grumpy but if you could add a day to party on to every week then that would be so much bet, mmhmm." Lightning Flash had placed a hoof over Pinkies mouth to ensure she wouldn't talk anymore.

"Sorry, she talks WAY too much." Lightning Flash apologized to Ace.

"I can tell." Ace responded.

"But still, you never answered my question," Twilight jumped in again. "What's that?"

"It's a long story." Ace announced aloud.

"Here, I'll tell them." Rainbow Dash stopped Ace. "You've been in enough pain for one day." Stepping forward, Rainbow began the incident. "Just as we entered the library, I had been stressed out and everything, so I decided to take a simple nap as usual. While napping, Ace must've wandered off into the basement where he noticed a mysterious pony that had been going through the drawer of the desk all the way at the end of the basement. It was if he had been searching for something valuable. Then, the pony could feel that Ace had been in the same room as him and had charged towards him. The pony had then pinned him against the wall and then realized that it hadn't been a pony he had been battling, but instead a robot. A robot we all know and love, who happens to go by the name Spectrum."

"Ha!" Snake snapped. "I told you guys that he had been behind all of this."

"Shh!" Twilight tried to silence the gloating Snake. After she did, she signaled for Rainbow Dash to continue.

"From there, all Ace told me that he turned his front hoof or something into a razor blade and began cutting along his side around here. Ace told me that he would have died if it hadn't been for me who turned on the lights of the basement. Instantly, Spectrum fled from the library unnoticed by everypony, everypony but Ace here." Rainbow had reached a hoof up and rustled the blue stallions mane.

"So Spectrum is the one behind this." Twilight said gently to herself.

"Now that's where you're wrong." Ace spoke up again, using one of his hoofs to cover the incision from leaking any more blood onto the wooden floor. "If you don't recall," Ace said, looking over to Rainbow Dash who had been at her side. "But Queen Chrysalis had also said something about wanting me and her to rule the world together."

"Queen Chrysalis!" Applejack shouted. "Not taht evil mare with taht army of shape-shifting vermin'!"

"I'm afraid so." Ace added on. "Apparently, she was able to sneak in her way into Canterlot again, only this time she took the form as Princess Luna rather than Princess Cadence. And during the ceremony, that's when she changed."

"Well, couldn't Shining Armor and Cadnace banish her and her army like last time?" Rarity asked with her usual British style voice.

Ace just shook his head as a response to her question. "I'm afraid not. Since last time, Queen Chrysalis has gain more power and so has her army. She found her way around the love spell and isn't able to be brought down. If we don't do something soon, the entire city of Canterlot will be literally destroyed to the ground."

"Well that's just great." Strife announced. "Right after we defeat one of our common enemies, we only come back to where we started to find that we receive two more enemies in return. And to make matters worse, we don't even know which of the two to go after!"

"We can always split up." Raymond said form the back of the group. As usual, he had been on his hind legs as he leaned his back against the wall of the library. "You know, half of us go after Spectrum while the other half goes after Chrysalis. It's not that hard."

"You may actually have a point there." Twilight agreed. "With that, we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Kill two birds with one stone? Why would you want to kill some innocent birds. What you should be doing is killing those meany pants creatures with one stones rather than those poor bi, mehmme." Like last time, Lightning had placed a hoof over her mouth to keep her silent.

"So now that we know what the plan is and everything, what will our groups be?" Thunder Ice asked from behind Twilight.

"I would insist in splitting the groups into mares and stallions so that no controversy would occur between the groups." Raymond expressed.

"How sexist of you to even think of that idea!" Rarity shouted. "What I would do is split the groups up randomly to ensure a fair option and everything.

"Well, that could work." Twilight thought. "Ok, everypony line up!" With that, everypony had stood beside each other as Twilight began to count off by twos. As she finished counting and the groups had been organized, she checked to see if the group orders would work or not.

In the first group had been Pinkie, Applejack, Snake, Raymond, Lightning, Blur, Fiiasco and Justine while in the other group had been Rainbow Dash, Ace, Twilight, Rarity, Thunder, Seamus, and Strife. The first group would be going after Spectrum while the opposing group would go after Queen Chrysalis and her army in Canterlot.

"Now, since everything has been organized, is there any questions you would acre to ask?" Twilight began marching around the groups as if she had been a general. One said, Rarity had raised a hoof into the air. Seeing this, Twilight had called on the white mare. "Rarity, is there something you would like to ask?"

"Just a small thing that's stuck in my head, but where does Spike happen to be?" As if on cue, a small chirp sound had been emanated from the far side of the library. Everypony had turned their heads to see where the voice had been coming from.

"Over here!" It said as the creature hopped down from the top shelf of the library. It had been a small baby-like dragon with a purple cover and green scales atop his head.

"Spike!" Twilight yelled as she rushed over to the dragon. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, nothing much." Spike replied. "Just hiding from that killer pony who had been previously lurking around this library and all."

"I've heard." Twilight added. "So now that you're here, do you care to join us?"

"Nah, not in the mood.' Spike replied. "It's not safe for a young dragon like me to be wondering around in devastation like that." He said as he pointed out the window. Ever since the enemies stormed the gates of Equestria, life in the outside world hadn't been safe for pony nor dragon.

"So what will you be doing when were gone and all?" Twilight shot at the dragon once more.

"Oh, me?" Spike began. "I'll just be keeping guard of the library from any intruders."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "Seems like a big job for somepony as small as you."

"Just trust me this once. I can take care of this place, I swear. "Spike answered.

"That's all I needed to hear." With that, Twilight turned around and began trotting over to where the two groups had been. "Now that you all know what your positions are, it's time to move out. Just remember, stay with your group, follow directions and orders, and most importantly, look out for each other, ok?"

Around everypony had replied "ok" as Twilight asked this.

"Well, ok then." Twilight announced. "Time to save the world for real this time!" With that, Twilight charged out of the library followed by everypony else. Ace had been the last to leave as before trotting through the door, he picked up his saddlebag with his mouth and placed it over his back. He knew that he had to show Rainbow Dash the papers soon, just not yet.

**This had also been a log chapter to write too. I never knew that I had been missing Spike in this fic until now. That's when I decided to add him in and put in a silly excuse on why he had been absent for the last few chapters. Still looking for new song requests but no more OC requests for now. I'm right now planning on having the next chapter focus on Shadow and Dusk as they had been trapped somewhere else from where the rest of the gang had been. Also, be happy that I used Spectrum once more. Turns out, he hadn't been pure of heart after all. But who knows? Maybe he'll turn good once more or something. The only way to find out is to stay tuned to the story and keep reading. Now review, review again, review again, review again, and keep reviewing till it kills you. **


	34. Chapter 33 Secrets of a Bloody Life

**I would like to start off by saying that this chapter now focuses on Shadow and Dusk as they encounter the new situation that they be facin'! Also, I would like to take the liberty of also saying that the scene as a whole is on a ship, not a mansion. I'm still looking for names of the ship, so if you would be ever-s-kind as to PM me good names that would fit the ship well. It would be better if the name could be a dark feminine name (Don't ask why, just follow along. It'll all make sense in the future, trust me) Now, we shall begin the next chapter. **

Chapter 33 – Secrets of a Bloody Life

The hallways of the area had been more than just dark. They held a feeling of sadness and despair to them. The entire area as a whole felt as if it were a mansion, only Shadow knew it hadn't been that. Every now and then the mansion would tilt to the left and then to the right, indicating that they had been on anything besides land. It had been either air or sea.

As Shadow traveled farther down the twist and turns of the hallways, she found more of what seemed to be "artificial enemies". Just like her previous encounter, they had been the same mutant creatures. Thy limped towards her the same way, charged the same way, and even collapsed the same way… so much for the enemy being "creative".

After traveling for a bit farther, Shadow had found a large dining hall in front of her. Smoke and fog sank to the bottom of the area as a large chandelier hung from the top of the roof. Dinner tables and chairs had been in the center, but no guests. Even food had been placed onto the tables, but it had looked dry and inedible.

Ignoring that, Shadow pushed herself forward, avoiding the chairs and tables in her way. It had been a rectangular room that had been 15 by 20 meters long. Over at the end of the room had been a large door that opened through the middle. But in order to unlock the door, a certain slip-like key needed to be inserted into the center where there was something that had been like a driving wheel of a ship. It's what had kept it locked the entire time.

Knowing this, Shadow realized that she had to take a different route for now until she found the key. But she still knew that whatever had been behind that door must've been either valuable or as important as to lock it away from every creature ever.

Turning to her right side, Shadow soon found stairs that led upward. The stairs went up a little, then went around the rectangular room till it had been facing the other side, and went on up. While climbing the stairs, Shadow began to think what the point of making stairs that leads into the opposite direction as planned.

Right as she reached the top of the stairs, there had been a small wooden door to her left that she could easily fit through. Grasping the door gently with her hoof, she slowly turned the knob. Right as she turned it, she heard chocking and gaging sounds from across the room. She then knew that she would have to brace herself if she wanted to make it out alive from this hell-hole.

Knowing the time had been right and everything, Shadow quickly kicked the door down with her hind legs and charged in. What she saw had been two of the same enemies before on her left side but on her right had been a different enemy. This one had looked all swell and didn't have any arms or even a head just legs and a body. In the middle of the room had been two aquarium tanks, yet they had been moldy and contained neither life nor water. The glass of the tanks had even been shattered.

Taking immediate action, Shadow fired quickly at the tow original enemies. It took only a mere few bullets for them to sink to the ground. Turning to the opposing enemy, she noticed that it had been closer to Shadow than it had been before. A lot closer! Moving slowly back, Shadow began carefully firing at the enemy. Turns out that hadn't been the best idea as the enemy began slowly imploding than all of a sudden it exploded. Blood, or what seemed to be artificial blood, flew everywhere staining the walls, floor, and even bits of Shadow. It turns out when somepony fires a weapon, they're forced to stand on their hind two legs as they fire it in order to get better perception and aim out of a shot. Since Shadow fired in this method, the blood had gotten in areas a little below her chest, but she didn't mind. She hadn't been one of those crazy ponies like Rarity who would freak out from the littlest messes such as dirt or mud.

Ignoring the mess, Shadow trotted along the room until she found the door which had been only a few feet away. Right as she was about to charge into the next room and obliterate any more enemies that lurked around the hallways and rooms, she found a dead pony corpse completely drenched in blood just lying on the floor. It had been where the swelled up enemy stood just before Shadow infiltrated the room.

Leaving the door and approaching the corpse, she noticed that its neck had been completely torn out as a huge gap replaced the area. Shadow could literally see the insides of his neck as she leaned over to take a closer glance at the innocent life lost.

Down at where the chest was, Shadow had found a nametag on the pony. The nametag had been covered in that artificial blood, but could be easily wiped off from a plastic surface. Carefully unclipping the nametag from the corpse, Shadow wiped the blood of with her arm. Not only had the lower part of her body been covered with that artificial blood, but also her right arm too.

Reading the nametag, Shadow could see that it said the following:

_DR. M. J. Phyler_

_Associate Medicine Technology Institute._

_C17 Lower Quarters._

"M. J. Phyler," Shadow said the name to herself before sighing. She put the nametag in her side belt and carried on with exploring.

Heading back to the door, Shadow this time opened the door gently, unlike last time. Entering the area, she noticed that she had been in a hallway with a sharp ninety degree turn at the end of the hallway. Once shadow reached that turn, she turned herself around only to come face to face with another one of the artificial enemies, but this one had been different. This specific one had two very long arms that had been curved and hardened. It even had spikes coming out of its arms too. And to make matters even worse, this creature had been faster than the rest.

Shadow had to act quickly in order to avoid this creature. She quickly held her ground, lifted her gun into the air, and began firing. Sadly, this routine did not work on this type of enemy as it raised its left claw high in the air and brought it down onto Shadows left leg.

Shadow fell to the floor from the sudden event. Some of her own blood began lurking out on the small incision crafted onto her leg, but it wasn't anything major. Shadow knew she had to get back up or she would be forced to the ground even more and possibly killed by the enemy.

Getting back up, Shadow began slowly backing away from the enemy as she shot. The enemy approached her faster than the rest as Shadow kept firing. Suddenly, there was a clink sound as the gun had run out of ammunition. Turns out that Shadow didn't have any spare ammo with her as she threw the useless gun right at the enemies face. It made a sound as it would if two metal pieces were to crash into one another. Now that Shadow didn't have any weapons to fight with, she was going to have to take it old-school. She'd have to use her own bare hooves.

Charging towards the enemy, Shadow ducked her head a little bit, and crashed into the stomach of the enemy. This resulted in the artificial enemy to crash into the wall behind this as Shadow pinned it down. Shadow knew that any false moves and the enemy would break free, so she gave her full attention and strength to prevent the enemy from escaping. Shadow knew that this fight couldn't go on for any longer and that it had to end right there and now.

Shadow then tightened her grasp onto the enemy, and with one quick move, flapped her wings, or what had been left of them, at the enemy. Since her wings had been made out of knife-like materials, it had been very beneficial for cutting and slicing. The only downfall: she wasn't able to fly with wings like those.

The result of this had been the right arm of the enemy literally falling off to the ground. As always, blood leaked out of the enemy as it began to sink to the floor. Its arm began sinking into a puddle of goo as well as the enemy did. It turns out that Shadow didn't need a weapon after all to defeat the enemies.

Moving on, Shadow noticed an elevator at the end of the hallway. Since there were no doors around and that the elevator had looked clean and useable, she pressed the button to the side, calling down the elevator to her floor. As the elevator door opened, the first thing she checked for was if there were any more enemies hiding around the elevator. She had already encountered enough enemies for one day.

Realizing that the elevator had been empty and contained no creatures hiding around anywhere, she quickly limped into the elevator. The wound on her leg caused by that previously encountered creature prevented her from walking straight.

Inside the elevator, there had been only three buttons: Bilge, Main Cabin, and Control Panel. If anything, the control panel might have some useful information or data as to where Dusk might have been, so Shadow pressed the Control Panel button.

As on command, the elevator began its ascent slowly as the elevator rocked back and forth now and then. Shadow didn't know how long this elevator ride was going to be, but she could never have braced herself for what had been next.

* * *

As Shadow reached the top of the elevator, the doors slowly rolled open. This alarmed Shadow as she knew that she had to be ready to fight anything in front of her. To her surprise, it had been nothing, just darkness.

"Shadow," A voice called out from the end of the hallway. It had been so familiar to Shadow, yet she couldn't put her hoof on who had been the caller. "Shadow," The voice yelled out again, but this time a figure began charging down the dark hallway.

"Dusk," Shadow began squinting her own eyes in order to see if the figure had been Dusk or not. Right as the figure approached her, Shadow could see who it had been as she ran up to embrace the stallion. "Dusk," She yelled as she hugged the dark pony. "I didn't know what happened. I began worrying that you were lost or something."

"Same to you," Dusk began stroking the mare's mane. Unlike before, she now had not only pink hair atop her head, but what also seemed to be a black extension that had been attached naturally to her hair too. Still, the only similarity had been that they both felt the same way: soft and smooth.

Quickly releasing Dusk, Shadow backed away from the stallion just to look at him once more. She searched him to see if he had encountered any artificial enemies along the way too. For some reason, he didn't manage to have the slightest scratch or drop of blood on him, indicating that he hadn't ran into any enemies. Turns out Dusk really did have all the luck this time around.

"What happened?" Dusk yelled as he too got a good look of Shadow to see what had been going on. Most of her lower half had been covered in a blood-like substance while there had been a cut along her left leg. Her entire bottom half of her body had been a complete mess.

"Oh this," Shadow answered back. "It's just a couple of cuts and bruises here and there. Nothing major, really."

"Nothing major?" Dusk yelled. It's everything but nothing major! Here, I know where we can get some healing supplies and wash you off. Come on." With that, Dusk grabbed one of Shadow's good hoofs with one of his own and led her down the dark hallways. It was nearly impossible for Shadow or anypony else to see, but Dusk had been a special pony. He had the ability of night vision, allowing him to see in the darkest of areas.

As they both trotted down the hallways, they passed a room with a set of lockers in it, a bathroom, a cafeteria, and everything else, but a hospital room. Finally, Dusk had reached one of the very few hospital rooms aboard the building. Entering it, he found t to be quite larger than expected. It had a bed to the side that could be adjusted in height, a cabinet full of medicine, rolls of paper and bandages, a bottle of alcohol for drinking in order to alleviate intense pains, as well as a sink too. The room as a whole had been a lot cleaner than both Dusk and Ace had suspected.

Turning on the lights of the room from an easy switch to the side of the wall and entering the room, Dusk led Shadow to where the bed had been. Carefully, he helped Shadow onto the bed by lifting her own legs up. The left leg had been bruised enough to move and by now had gotten a little infected.

"Now don't worry." Dusk said as he rummaged through the cabinets to see what he could find to stop an infection or cut. "My father had a part-time job as a doctor." Looking through the medication and ointments more carefully, Dusk soon found what he had been looking for. "Ah, here it is!" Dusk announced before putting the ointment aside. "We'll need that for later, but for now, we need to clean you up." With that, Dusk took a clean rag from the corner of the sink and drenched it in water. Taking the drenched rag, he twisted most of the water out until the rag had been wet but not dripping wet.

Taking the rag into his right hoof, Dusk began approaching Shadow who had been laid out onto the bed. Right before Dusk placed the rag onto Shadow, Shadow spoke up.

"Just be careful when you do this, ok?" Shadow asked to Dusk

"I'll try my best." Dusk replied.

"Oh, and whatever you do, don't even thi.." Shadow had been cut off.

"I won't even try." Dusk said before placing the cold rag onto the area below Shadows chest. Her entire lower half had been drenched in what seemed to be a blood-like substance, and Dusk's job was to clean it all off.

Moving the rag slowly back and forth, the blood slowly got absorbed into the rag as Dusk moved it across Shadow's body. Once he had cleaned the area around the stomach, all that remained was the lower sections of the body that Shadow previously explained to stay clear of as well as the leas and where the cut had been.

"Umm, Shadow. I think there might be a little pro.." Dusk was cut off by Shadow.

"Just make it quick." Shadow replied. Taking commands, Dusk carefully slid the rag across the lower part of Shadows body, careful not to make eye contact or anything. The last thing he'd want was to be literally ripped to pieces by a dark Pegasus.

Once Dusk finished that, he moved onto the legs, well only one leg to be precise. Moving on to the left leg, Dusk began a conversation. He knew that this would hurt for Shadow, so he tried to get her mind off the pain she would be feeling.

"So, what happened here?" Dusk asked as he swept up all the blood on Shadow's leg. In place of the blood had been a cut around half a foot length.

"Heh, it was a hay of an encounter with one of those monsters out there." Shadow replied.

"What?" Dusk asked as he headed over to where the ointment was as he cleaned out the rag full of blood. "What do you mean, monsters?"

"Turns out there are monsters lurking around here too." Shadow answered. "Pretty intimidating creatures, if you ask me."

"Well that's nice to here." Dusk said as he approached Shadow with the ointment and placed some across her cut leg as he spread out the ointment. "Let me guess, one of the enemies got to you?" He asked as he put back the ointment into the cabinet and reached for the alcohol on the counter top.

"Pretty much," Shadow added on. "I would've died right then and there if it weren't for my quick reflexes."

"Nice to hear," Dusk said as he picked up a piece of leather lying on one of the cabinets. "Now, what I'm about to do next might hurt just a little more than expected, so I advise you to put this in your mouth." He said as he handed Shadow the piece of leather. As followed, Shadow placed the leather in her mouth as instructed. "The point of that is to bite onto the leather to let out the stress given to you by pain."

"Ready?" Dusk asked, looking up at Shadow who had already bitten down onto the leather. All Shadow did was give a hoof up to signal that she had been ready. "Ok, then." With that, Dusk began slowly pouring that alcohol onto the cut on Shadows leg. The pain had been intense as it literally burned up her hide, but she just went with it. For an odd reason, Shadow liked pain. She enjoyed it. She always took in pain for pleasure, which resulted in making her so strong.

"Done" Dusk announced as he stopped pouring the alcohol onto Shadow's leg. "You can spit out the leather now." He said as he held his hoof up to Shadows mouth. As commanded, Shadow gently spit out the leather, which happened to have intense bite marks imprinted onto it.

"Is it over?" Shadow asked as Dusk went over to the garbage can near the sink and threw out the leather. He then capped the alcohol and placed it over to the side where it originally was in case somepony else needed to use it.

"Almost," Dusk responded as he reached into the drawers once more and pulled out what seemed to be a thin brown cloth rolled up. "Just one more bit" Dusk began approaching Shadow with the cloth as Shadow began asking him questions.

"Will it hurt?" Shadow asked in a calmer fashion.

"Did the last part hurt?" Dusk asked back as he unraveled a bit of the cloth. It had been sealed by a pin as he removed the pin and held it in his mouth.

"Not really." Shadow responded, trying to sound brave.

"Then this will be nothing." Dusk mentioned before placing the cloth near Shadows leg. "Also, I need one more favor from you. Can you lift your leg for just the slightest second for me?"

As commanded, Shadow had lifted her left leg around a few inches of the mattress as Dusk slid the cloth underneath her leg.

"Good, now keep it there for a while while I do this." Dusk said as he gently began wrapping the cloth around Shadows wounded leg.

"I thought you said for just a moment?" Shadow had a small smirk on her face as she said this.

"Well, I lied." Dusk answered as he continued the wrap the cloth around her leg. "Sometimes it easier to tell a lie than it is to tell the truth. Just remember that whenever you are in a situation like this."

"Sure." Shadow rolled her eyes.

"Done," Dusk announced as he finished wrapping a thick enough layer of cloth around Shadow's leg. It had gone around seven times and had been thick enough from any blood to leak out of the incision. "Now all I need to do is cut the cloth so that it can be kept in place as you move." Dusk said as he reached over to where the surgery tools had been and took a scissor. It had not only been sharp enough to cut cloth, but also to cut pony hide right off as well.

"But you just said that you had finished moments ago." Shadow added. "What's with you today?"

"Well, I'm just tricky." Dusk replied as he separated the cloth with a simple snip of the scissors. "Just a little something extra you should know about me." Putting the scissors aside and pinning the roll of cloth together, Dusk reached for a stapler as he approached Shadow once more.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Shadow asked with the smallest bit of fear in her voice.

"Well, it happens to be that there's no more masking tape, pins, or even paperclips, so the only way to keep the cloth secure is to staple it in." Dusk mentioned as he separated the top of the stapler from the bottom. "Now, this might hurt a bit, just to let you know. In hindsight, it may have been better to keep the leather rather than to throw it out right away."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Shadow answered in a calm voice.

"Ok, then." Dusk confirmed as he approached the end of the cloth with the stapler. Before pushing down on the stapler, Dusk spoke once more. "I'll try to be gentle as possible."

"That's what you said for everything else." Shadow grew a little impatient from all the hold ups the Dusk had been making. "If anything, it would be most beneficial to just get it over with."

"Got it," With that, Dusk pushed down on the stapler as soft as he could. The stapler made a click sound as the staple had been pushed out of it. It went through the cloth and against the skin of Shadow as in nearly went right through her outsides. A few drops of blood leaked out from where the staple had been placed as it stained bits of the cloth already.

"So much for being blood-proof," Dusk said to himself as he looked down at the blood-soaked cloth. It had only been a few seconds since he placed it on, and yet it had already been covered with some blood. "How does it feel?" Dusk asked as he put away the stapler and turned on the water of the sink as he washed his front hooves.

"It feels better." Shadow replied as she wiggled her left leg with her hoof.

"Can you walk with it?" Dusk dried his hooves as he turned again to Shadow who had still been on the mattress.

"I don't know." Shadow responded. "Here, let me try." Shadow had carefully launched herself off the bed onto the granite floor as she wobbled back and forth as she tried to gain her balance. As if on cue, Dusk had rushed to her side to prevent her from falling onto the floor.

"Thanks." Shadow said as she turned to Dusk. "Thanks for everything."

Dusk blushed at this, although it was hard to tell since his dark coat prevented the blush from being noticeable. "So now what?" Dusk asked the yellow mare.

"Now," Shadow began. "Now we do what I say." Shadow reached into her side belt with her mouth and picked out what seemed to be a card. "I found this card a while ago before I got scraped on my leg." Shadow went over to the counter and placed the card onto the top. Dusk soon followed the mare, helping her keep her balance up.

"What is it?" Dusk began reading the card. It gave the information of the name, type of business, as well as the area of working they had been in.

"It seems to be a nametag of some sort." Shadow answered. "Apparently when I ran into it, it had been clipped onto a corpse of somepony on the floor, the card had been covered in blood, so I cleaned the blood off myself. The card soon became visible as I read the info given. It seems that he works in a Medicine Technology Institute somewhere on the lower quarters of this place."

"Lower quarters," Dusk said to himself as he began rubbing his chin with his hoof. "That's the bilge!" He shot out.

"The bilge?" This time it had been Shadow who did the thinking. "When I stepped into one of the elevators of this place. There had been three buttons: one that led me here to this floor, one that led me to where I began, and the last one was towards the bilge. I chose the top floor since I knew that if I searched hard enough, I knew I could find at least some info on where you could have been. Lucky for me, I found you with ought any trouble or anything."

"But that still doesn't explain why somepony would build a Medicine Technology Institute all the way down to where the bilge would be?" Dusk asked aloud. "This just doesn't add up."

"Maybe it's not what is seems to be" Shadow stepped in. "Maybe it's just some sort of trick or trap that's occurring down there."

"Do you really think so?" Dusk asked, looking into Shadow's eyes.

"There's only one way to find out!" Shadow yelled as she picked up the card and placed it in her side belt. "Come on." She said as she slowly trotted out of the room. Just as she was about to fall, Dusk rushed up to her side and leaned up against it, helping her regain her balance.

"Thanks, again." Shadow said. "But you don't have to keep doing this. I'll be fine on my own, that is if you trust me."

"Don't say anything now." Dusk stopped her as he put a hoof around the mare. "Right now, you are no condition to fight, or even walk straight! Until you're healed, I' forced by my code to keep guard of you. It's a vow I made a long time ago, and it's also a vow I will never break."

"Come on, Romeo. It's time to go." Shadow said as she picked up Dusk's hoof and pushed it off her back. With that, she trotted out of the hospital room with Dusk close to her side. A new objective had been clear to not only her but also Dusk too:

Investigate the ship from top to bottom, no matter what it takes. Everything in life had a reason, and also an answer to go with it, and this ship is no different than life itself, and Shadow and Dusk are going to uncover that reason along with the answer to go with it, even if it kills them.

**Done with chapter 33. Let me just start off by saying that the reason I typed up so much in the past few days was because I had been stuck at my beach house the entire weekend. And to make matters even worse, there was no Celestia damn internet! All that there had been was my laptop with Word on it, a couple of TVs, and some microwaved dinners. So in the time being of the weekend, I spent the time just writing away for Death City as well as played Portal 2 and Minecraft till the shit got boring. Still looking for new songs but no new OCs yet. Not ready for the OCs YET! (Key word: yet). Just to let you guys know, but the reason I keep switching off form scenario's such as Shadow and Dusk to the rest of the gang is because it is much more amusing than just focusing on one scene for a certain amount of chapters. It brings a lot more variety to the story when I do this. Also, I might even have the next chapter continue focusing on Shadow and Dusk. I still don't know what I should do, so maybe you guys should suggest what the next chapter it should be on. Should it focus on: A. Shadow and Dusk, B. The group headed towards Spectrum or, C. The group headed towards Queen Chrysalis and her army (note: there is no option D). Now the poll shall begin. **

**Also, I'd like to take the time to shout out two things. One, thanks to Mister Moneybags for revising this chapter, as well as I'd like to also give a focus of attention to one of my friends new series of music posted the other day on youtube. His username is Sunlight Sparkle (such irony that his fanfiction account is the same name). I've checked out his music, and it's very lively and worth taking the time to listen too.**


	35. Chapter 34 Gore Galore

**Verall not a WORDS, WORDS! THEY'RE EVRYWHERE! Want to know what people should do with words when they find them on a document or a file? THEY SHOULD READ THEM! So, why don't you do me and the rest of the world a favor and read all these MARVELOUS words that I spend my free-time writing.**

Chapter 34 – Gore Galore

"Well, looks like this place can't get any worse than it already is." Shadow spoke up as the lift beneath them lowered down farther and farther.

"Heh," Dusk chuckled a bit as he reloaded his weapon. A clink sound was produced as he did so. "Straight into the deeps of hell." His voice had been very dark and depressing. What they had been expecting next had been nothing new to either of them, even after what they had previously encountered in the ship themselves.

* * *

**Before:**

"So, what exactly did you encounter before catching up with me?" Dusk asked.

"Oh, nothing new." Shadow responded, turning towards the dark stallion. "Just a few specks of what seemed to be a mixture for some sort of zombie-pony here and there. Just the same old stuff, really."

Right now, Shadow and dusk had been riding an elevator all the way down to the bilge. It had been the same elevator that Shadow had ridden upwards to the control panel where she had met Dusk by chance.

"Any tips you want to share with me if we even encounter any more of the creatures, which I guarantee you we will." Dusk mentioned.

"Go for the arms or legs." Shadow replied. "Consider yourself informed."

"Speaking or arms and legs, how's your leg holding up?" Dusk asked as he turned to look at Shadow's hind leg. The cloth had stayed in the same position that it had been in before, yet the blood had been absorbed into the cloth like a sponge.

Suddenly, there was a ding sound as Shadow and Dusk turned their heads forward to see that the elevator had reached its destination. The metal doors separated to show a steel hallway that had been badly rusted as it made a sharp turn left.

"Here, take this." Dusk said aloud as he extended his hoof down to Shadow. "Consider it a gift."

Looking down, Shadow saw what seemed to be a regular weapon: a gun. It had been noting special like a shotgun or ak47 or even a flamethrower, just an original handgun.

Taking it into her own hoof, she asked Dusk. "But how about you?" She asked as she looked up to him.

"Don't worry. I've got one for myself too." Dusk replied as he pulled out an average gun from his side belt. "Turns out when I awoke, I found myself in a weapons bed room. Sadly, all the good weapons had been taken, so I grabbed as much of what had been left and made a run for it."

Hearing this, Shadow grasped the handle portion around her teeth and yanked off the thin curved piece of metal around the trigger. She still didn't understand why they kept making weapons with the exact same dumb design for years.

"So, you ready?" Dusk asked as he looked back at Shadow.

"Ready." She replied as she got up onto her back legs. It took her a while to regain her balance as Dusk had done the same. Like before, they both had been told that standing on only two legs promoted aim and accuracy when firing a weapon. Turns out, this had been true as Shadow almost never missed her target when firing a weapon on only two legs.

"Let's go," Dusk echoed as the two stormed out of the elevator. Just immediately, the hallway in front of them took a steep turn to the left. Moving forward, the hallway led to two places. In the front was what seemed to be a mini control panel for the bilge itself while to the right of the hallway was a steel door. The door had the same design as the wooden one Shadow encountered when she first awoke in this haunted cruise.

"What is this?" Dusk asked as he entered the miniature control panel room. Computers and keyboards had been laid out across the tables and shelves while the wall held countless TVs monitoring the entire lower half of the ship. The chairs near the computers had been thrown everywhere and dried blood stained the walls and the floors. The strong smell of death and decaying glided through the room as it came in contact with the two's nostrils.

"And what a smell that is too," Dusk added as he put a hoof up to his nose to block out the strong smell.

"Stay focused," Shadow spoke up, "I think I know how to get out of here." She began backing up slowly out of the room until she had been in the hallway one more. Turning to her left, she noticed not only the rusted steel door, but also the identification scanner to the right of it. It had been the same device to the wooden door before as it acted like a lock to the door.

"I may be able to hack this." Shadow said as she lowered herself till she had been on her knees. With that, she reached into her belt pocket with her right hoof and took out the screwdriver she found in the filthy water of the tub she drained. Shadow began unscrewing the bolts of the scanner that had been located on all four corners of the outer rim. All Dusk did was watch as Shadow override the device. He knew that Shadow was smart and intelligent, but he never knew she could hack computers and electronics too.

The sound of metal crashing onto a metal floor rang into both Shadow's and Dusk's ear. The metal covering of the scanner fell to the floor as Shadow put the screwdriver back into her belt pocket. Looking back up, she began tugging on certain color wires and plugging them in into different slots. Shadow knew what she had been doing. She wasn't just pulling random wires, hoping that the door would automatically lock.

After a moment of patiently waiting, the door finally unlocked as Shadow pulled out one more switch and plugged it in into another port. Standing back up on two legs, Shadow approached the door and carefully pushed onto it. The doors down in the bilge and up in the control panel had been different. They didn't have nobs, rather it was a sliding door that could be pushed either way, making a quick getaway easier and simpler.

The door made a loud creaking sound that echoed through the hallways as Shadow pushed it open. The section up ahead was more than dark, and pretty much impossible to see. There was no way to move on unless they had some sort of light source.

"What happened?" Dusk yelled as he saw Shadow walk through the door.

"It's too dark. I can't see anything." Shadow yelled back as she came back into the hallways once again.

"Oh, I have the perfect solution." Dusk answered as he reached into his own belt pocket. Taking out his hoof, he grasped what seemed to be a flashlight and gave it to Shadow. "Here, this'll help you. Whenever you're in some sort of dark situation, just turn this on, and your pathway will become clear"

Shadow observed the flashlight as Dusk talked about what it did and when to use it. Turning it around, her eyes caught what seemed to be the trigger of the flashlight. It had been a simple switch that had to be pulled upwards to be tuned on and pulled back downwards to be shut off. Simple enough.

"Wait, aren't you coming along?" Shadow asked, looking back at Dusk.

"Me? Sorry, I have to stand guard in this room," Dusk answered back. "Over here, I can see everything that happens aboard the ship. It's really cool how you can see so much with just so little."

"But what's the purpose in that?" Shadow shot out once more. "What will happen if you do find something?"

"Here, hold on a sec." Dusk reached back into his belt pocket. Out then came two devices that had been rectangular and covered in a thin coat of black plastic. A strong wire had been sticking out at the top of the device. He then handed one to Shadow as he kept the other to himself. "With this, we can radio each other from wherever we are! SO, if I were to pick up traces of another one of those enemies near you, I can easily warn you through this." Dusk then pointed at his own device.

"Is that it, or is there anything else you'd like to give me?" Shadow asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Nah. There wasn't anything that good in the weapons bed anyway." Dusk replied. "Now off you go!" He said as he turned Shadow around and gently pushed on her back, moving her forward. "Just remember, be careful. You've already got that injury on your leg." From that, Shadow instantly looked back down to her left leg. It had been in the exact same state as it had been for the last ten minutes.

"Well, wish me luck." Shadow said a little nervously before entering through the steel door. Once she had been on the other side, the first thing she did was reach for her flashlight as she instantly pulled the switch up. Just like that, a beam of light had come flying out of it, lighting the area and only the area in front of her. It had been a nifty tool, yet Shadow knew that it was going to run out of power sooner or later. She was going to have to make the most of the light's energy as she quickly ran down the twist and turns of the ship, not knowing what mysterious fate she would run into next.

* * *

"What's with all this horror just aboard one ship?" Shadow thought to herself as she resumed trotting down the hallways of the ship. "Was it intended to contain so much scare in it?"

Earlier, Shadow had run into a few more enemies, as before only some of them had been new to her. While there had been the same old original ones, as well as the explosive ones and the ones with the giant spikey claws, she also found herself encountering an enemy that seemed to have what had been a small anchor shape arm that fired what seemed to be a type of ammunition out of it. Shadow had gotten hit a few times before by it, and it really didn't hurt, but if it hadn't been for Dusk and his navigating skills back in the control panel room in the lower half of the ship.

Opening one of the many sliding doors of the ship, Shadow found herself in what seemed to be an infected cafeteria. The place as a whole had been no brighter than the rest of the rooms aboard the ship as the floor contained moss, mold, and also what seemed to be the same substance that the artificial enemies had been made out of. This had warned Shadow that more enemies had been near as she raised her handgun from her side, ready to fire at any given moment.

As a shocking result, nothing had appeared. Shadow just stood in the deeps of the darkness with her flashlight and gun at hoof, pointing into the emptiness of the distance.

Putting the gun lower back to her side once more, Shadow began resuming trotting forward to where the nearest sliding door had been. This had been a different door, rather than the one she had just come in from.

Just as she was about to push the door open, a loud shriek sound emanated through the entire ship. As on cue, a rough sound came from the radio device attached to the belt around Shadow.

"Shadow? What was that?" Dusk asked through the device as Shadow put the device up to her mouth and began to speak into it too while holding down the trigger attached onto the right side with her hoof.

"I don't know," Shadow responded, "I'm going to go investigate."

"OK, then," Dusk confirmed, "Radio me when you find what it had been. And just remember, be careful."

"Got it," Shadow said once more as she placed the device back onto her belt. Pushing onto the door, she found herself in what seemed to be a stairwell. It had gone downwards in circles, reaching around a total of ten floors from top to bottom.

Remembering where the vibrations of the noise came from, Shadow remembered that the scream had come from one of the lower floors as Shadow made her way down the first floor of stairs. She had been a total of seven out of the ten floors high as she traveled lower down to the sixth floor.

Approaching the sixth floor, the first thing Shadow tried was the door preventing her from accessing the floor as a whole. The only problem, the door wouldn't open. Something had been jamming it over on the other side of the door, allowing her to be locked out. The result of this had been Shadow traveling down to the fifth floor, one floor lower than the last.

Expecting the same result as to what had happened on the previous floor, Shadow pushed into the door awaiting her on the fifth floor to find that it had opened with ease. Looking around her surrounding, she found another set of more hallways.

Suddenly, the same screaming echoed through the hallways, although this time it had been louder, informing Shadow that she had been getting close. Galloping down the direction left down the hallway, Shadow made her way closer and closer to where the loud screaming had come from.

Going down more stairs and making even more turns down the rusted metal hallways that would have been completely dark without her flashlight, Shadow finally approached the scene that had nearly taken her breath away.

She stood in front of another hallway that went both left and right. To the right had been a few lockers while to the left led into yet another room of the ship. But what had stunned her was what had been occurring in the room in front of her.

The only thing that separated her from the other room across from her was a sheet of glass. On the other side there were another three of the same, everyday enemies that lurked around the hallways and corridors of the ship. But what added on to the horror was that there also had been another pony across from where Shadow stood.

The three enemies cornered up on her as the pony began backing away slowly. With a sudden, swift movement, the enemy to the right extended his arm outward and grasped the pony around the neck with his hook-like hoof as he raised the pony into the air. From there, Shadow could tell it had been a mare because the body of the creature had been a thinner shape than one of a stallion.

Moving in, the mare struggled her best as she tried to gasp her way for any last bits of air she could take in. All of a sudden, the enemy that had grasped her opened what had seemed to be a mouth, and out came a worm-like creature that seemed to be attached to him mouth. Looking closely, Shadow could see there had been millions of sharp yet tiny spikes in there that had been represented as teeth.

With a sudden movement, the enemy moved his face towards the mare as the worm-like tong gripped the mares face and nearly yanked it off as he moved back. One last scream escaped the mare's lips, or what had been left of it as the zombie-pony ripped her face off. Blood leaked everywhere as it did so.

Approaching her once again, the enemy swung his tong at the mare as he released his grip on her, throwing her against the glass, staining it completely in blood.

Shadow just stood back in shock at what she had just seen. She never knew what dying really mean to her after she had realized her immortality. She never knew how much it really hurt to be wounded or even worse, killed brutally at the hooves of mercy.

The blood spread out across the glass in front of Shadow prevented her from seeing anything else from the room in front of her as all she could hear was the sound of the cracking of boned and the spewing of blood. From there, Shadow knew what she had to do. It had been a stupid idea, but on the contrary, it had been her only idea.

She went in.

As Shadow pushed against the sliding door to her right, the first thing she noticed was the three enemies that she'd seen before as they cornered the innocent mare. The only difference: this time they'd been crouched over, literally on top of her! It had been as if they had still been trying suck out her blood or whatever they did to their victims when they had been dead.

She also noticed that the room had supplied light, unlike any other of the rooms aboard the ship. Knowing this, she quickly turned her flashlight off and put it aside for now. There was no use for light when there was enough already.

Pointing up her gun towards the artificial enemies, the first thing Shadow did was aim and fire. A simple procedure that pretty much anypony could follow, but the only difference was that Shadow had precise aim. She nearly never missed any target she aimed for.

A loud flash was produced as she fired the bullet among one of the enemies. It hit the back of the enemy as it punched a wide hole into it.

Feeling this, the enemy had stood up to its fullest height, which was almost a foot higher than Shadow, and began walking over to Shadow. The other two enemies near it who had been eating away at the carcass had also gotten up and began doing the same as the first.

Reacting quick, Shadow fired multiple bullets at the enemies, switching off from one target to another so they'd have trouble approaching her. Just like that, the three of the enemies dissolved into a pool of mush as always when defeated.

"What was that?" Dusk's voice rang through the radio device.

"I think I know what's really going on," Shadow replied as she approached the corpse of the mare that lay both at a crooked angle against the floor and the walls. "But there's nothing I can't be too sure about."

"What do you mean?" Dusk asked in a somewhat fearful voice. "Did you find anything to lead us to the conclusion on what's going on here and more importantly how to get out of here?"

"On the bright side, I think I might have." Shadow said as she crouched down until she was eye level with the mare. Her eyes had been open and she swore she could still see her breathing. Her left arm had been completely obliterated and separated from its socket, none of the mare's face remained anymore. The skin had been literally ripped off as blood gashed out of the massive wound in her face. Shadow could smell the intense stench of decaying as she felt as if she was going to vomit. Holding that back, she searched the mare for any signs of identification that could hint at what she had been.

Luckily she found something. It had been a key card used to open up locked doors throughout the ship. It was attached to her belt as Shadow grasped the small plastic card with her hoof and carefully read what it had said on it. Just as the last card, this one also had blood spread right out across the front of it. Shocker!

Wiping the blood off with the side of her own hoof like before, Shadow could see the format of it had been the company who made the card as well as a number code containing approximately twelve digits.

"I found something," Shadow announced as she stood back up onto her hind legs again.

"Well, what is it?" A curious Dusked asked.

"I don't seem to know exactly, but by the looks of it, it seems as if it's a card that triggers each and every lock aboard the ship." Shadow replied.

"Well that's even better than what I expected for you to find!" Dusk jumped. "Now come back over here so we can see what else this haunted cruise ship has in store for that."

"On my way." Shadow ended the conversation as she clipped the device back onto her belt. Putting the card in a small pouch to her side, she quickly turned the flashlight on once again and began traveling the same direction in which she came from.

* * *

As Dusk waited patiently in the miniature control panel room for Shadow to arrive with her findings, he began daydreaming. He thought to himself what would become of the two after all this disaster and mayhem had been over. It's been years since they last met each other as Dusk knew that Shadow or Fluttershy or whatever wouldn't even think of going her own separate way. Still there was no way to prove that as second by second passed by, soon turning into minutes.

"I'm here." A voice echoed through the hallways followed by the creaking of a door opening and closing simultaneously. Dusk turned right towards the direction in which the voice came from in order to find Shadow standing right beside the door.

"About time you showed up." Dusk mentioned, trying o act civilized. "I was beginning to worry about you."

"You know I have no problem taking care of myself in one of these situations." Shadow replied.

"Speaking of that, how's your leg holding up?" Dusk asked as he looked down at Shadow's left leg, with the cloth still wrapped tightly around it.

"Oh, that?" Shadow asked, looking down at her leg as well. "I didn't even realize I still had this on the entire time! Just goes to show you how strong I am on the inside."

"Don't get too full of yourself just yet," Dusk said aloud, "We've got bigger priorities that just sitting around and arguing all day."

"Right," Shadow agreed as she went into her belt attached round her and pulled out the card with the twelve digits. "Here," she announced as she handed it over to Dusk.

"What is it?" he asked, examining the card closely as he turned it over from time to time to read what it had said.

"I don't know exactly, but it looks like a key for those electronic doors I found earlier. You know, the ones I wasn't able to hack or break through."

"Well, then. This could come in handy," Dusk added, giving the card back to Shadow who gladly accepted it and put it back into her belt to where it first had been. "So, now where are we off to?"

"If anything, the bilge should be on the lowest floor possible," Shadow said, "And it just so happened that in my travels before, I encountered a set of stairs that went up to the tenth floor and all the way down the first floor."

"Well, what floor are we on?" Dusk asked the mare.

"The seventh," Shadow responded. "If anything, we should be heading downwards to the first floor."

"Well, then there is where we'll go. Together." With that, Dusk approached the door that Shadow had gone through before as he lifted his gun out of his pocket and put it out to his side. "Ready?' He asked as he faced Shadow himself.

"Always," was her only response as she turned on her flashlight once more and headed through the door with Dusk, weapon at hoof. She didn't know where this mission would lead them. 'What's a little adventure without suspense?' she thought to herself.

* * *

The metal door swiveled open as both Shadow and Dusk made their way to the long stairway below them. It had been an average stairway like all others, only this one had a large gap in the middle followed by rusted railings to prevent anypony from falling off.

"Woah," Dusk said as he approached edge of the railing and slightly leaned off the cold metal, looking at the long drop below him. "Never knew this ship went so low." They were already on the seventh floor and Dusk could see a clear image of the flooring all the way at the first floor.

"Stay focused." Shadow pointed her flashlight towards the stairs. With that, she carefully stepped down the stairs step by step, Dusk close behind.

They arrived at floor six, the same floor that had been jammed before when Shadow tried to open it but failed. They kept moving to floor five. As they approached Shadow spoke up again.

"This is where the accident with the screaming occurred." Shadow announced pointing a hoof towards the door in order for Dusk to see.

"What happened?" Dusk asked, slowly approaching the door.

"I don't feel like sharing," Shadow responded. "Even the memory still haunts me." Shadow turned her head downwards and looked down at the rusted floor.

"It's ok," Dusk said, placing a hoof onto the yellow mare. "That was then, and this is now. Just remember that we have each other."

"Don't get too sappy." Shadow gently pushed Dusk away in a playful way. "C'mon, we've got more exploring to do," Shadow announced before she resumed trotting gently down the stairs. Dusk followed as the light produced by the flashlight assisted him as well as Shadow herself down the stairs.

* * *

Reaching the first floor at last, both Shadow and Dusk looked around themselves at their environment. It had been the same as every other floor. There had been a sliding door in front of them separating them from the rest of the ship. The only difference had been just to the right of the door was a small scanner. It seemed as if it needed some sort of card to slide into it for the door to be unlocked.

"The key!" Dusk yelled. "Quick, give me that key card thing you found earlier!" Dusk shouted as he faced Shadow. As commanded, shadow reached into the pocket in her side belt and took out the key card and placed it in Dusk's hooves.

Taking they key in his own hooves, Dusk approached the scanner near the door and slid the card right through the scanner quickly and in a fierce motion. The result of this had been a small little "ding" as well as the scanner light turning green, signaling that the door had been unlocked.

"Turns out this card is more useful that I first thought." Dusk said as he held up the key right in front of his eyes once more and looked into it. "Here" He said, handing it back again to Shadow. "Keep this in a safe place. Celestia knows if we'll need it in the future or not."

Taking the key card back, Shadow placed it back into her belt as she aimed the flashlight towards the peak of the door. Approaching it, she gently pushed on it as the door scratched against the floor below it.

Once Dusk and Shadow passed through one of the many doors through the ship, they looked around at their surroundings to see what they'd run into. It was a series of gates and railings through one big room. Below them had been an enormous pit that seemed to lead to the incinerator room.

Taking great precautions, Shadow carefully made her way through the series of gates and railings. Dusk didn't want to be one to just stand around, so he decided to follow Shadow as well. He knew he could easily fly over all this mess with his wings, but he knew that for somepony like Shadow whose wings had been sharp and hadn't been made for the usage of flight, he just stayed low on solid ground as he followed the mysterious mare.

Once reaching the end of the room, there had been yet another one of the same doors with the scanner. Knowing what to do, Shadow reached for the card in her belt, slid it across the scanner, and put the card back by her side all in one quick move. Dusk just watched as it all went down.

Opening the next door, Shadow found herself in the room that had contained some sort of lift in the center.

"Hey, Dusk." Shadow called out. "Looks like we found our way down."

As Dusk approached the lift, he observed the controls of the lift to see that it just had an up, down, and an emergency stop button implanted onto the massive device.

"And it happens to have the key still in it." Dusk added, pointing his hoof to where the keyhole had been. What had surprised Shadow was that Dusk had been right. The key had still been in the hole!

Jumping onto the lift, Shadow signaled for Dusk to lower it once she was ready. As signaled, the stallion had turned the key and pushed the button with the arrow pointing down. It had been as if somepony was trying to lead them down there. The stench of death and decay filled the air as the lift lowered, the area around them became darker and darker with every movement.

"Well, looks like this place can't get any worse than it already is." Shadow spoke up as the lift beneath them descended farther and farther.

"Heh," Dusk chuckled a bit as he reloaded his weapon. A clink sound was produced as he did so. "Straight into the deeps of hell." His voice had been very dark and depressing. What they had been expecting next had been nothing new to either of them, even after what they had previously encountered in the ship.

**OMG! WORDS! Did you enjoy reading all those words? I hope you did, 'cause I like words. Words make me feel WORthy (ha, bad pun!) Still a better joke than Twilight jokes. Now, go to the review box, type in some random shit (make it positive) and I will read that random shit and add more random shit onto it.**

**SO, yeah. I'm trying a new approach to be more funny in my authors notes. If it's working, please tlee. Me. Still looking for new songs but no new OCs for now. Now I got to g. I have a life to get back to. (Yes, I have a life, AND FRIENDS!) *waves* BYE!**


	36. Chapter 35 City of Destruction

**I know what you might be thinking right now: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS? Well, apparently I've had a lot of tests and quizzes on the last week of school, and I simply didn't have enough time to write more considering I had to study for all of them. But now that schools over, I finally have more time to write. So, without any more delay, here's chapter 35!**

Chapter 35 – City of Destruction

The sun blasted out its rays over the land of Equestria as all clocks struck noon. Usually, the part of the day after mid-day would be the hottest. And like any other day, it was as hot as ever.

The group, or what was left of it after the separation as well as losing both Fluttershy and Dusk somewhere, was traveling through the Drenched Desert. It was one of the hottest places in all of Equestria. The ground was covered with hot, rough sand; there was no water. Same with the plant life as nothing but sand could be seen for the next mile or so.

"I've heard that sand can be good for your hoofs and remove the dead skin attached to them, but this is just too much!" Rarity complained. "We've been walking forever in this desert and we haven't even found any signs of civilization yet!"

"Be patient, Rarity," Thunder Ice yelled from the front of the group. "Not all things in the world can be perfect."

"Heh, especially in these conditions," Seamus said quietly to himself. He was referring to the sudden change in rulers; all of a sudden everypony wanted the opportunity to take over the world once again. And what made it even worse was that they were the main target. The last survivors; the key to untold riches and possibly world domination.

As the remainder of the group went back and forth with different arguments while they walked, Ace decided to stay in the back to maneuver his way out of any sort of trouble up ahead. He knew it could be his free period as he could finally get a chance to catch up on what had really been going on around him.

He kept one question onto his mind as he walked: Why did Queen Chrysalis want him? What was so unique about him that made him so special? Ever since his younger days as a colt, he was treated as a bottom class individual. Nothing special, no talents; no cutie mark even! The only thing he'd do when younger was dream of his fantasies to one day become the new ruler of all of Equestria. But what he didn't know back then was what he had believed in would come true one day.

That was until she came into his life.

It soon hit Ace that none of this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for that wild rainbow manned Pegasus with the cyan coat. If it hadn't been for her, no more life. No more dreaming or fairytales or even happiness. Ace had always been told by his parents that he had a special type of energy inside him that would make him grow into a very powerful being. He had also been told that if somepony else was to harness that energy, the world would be plunged into complete darkness. It would be plunged into the depths of hell. If only, if only….

"What is that?" Rarity yelled, looking out into the distance. It was what seemed to be an entire city, or what was left of it. The place, as a whole, was in no condition to sustain life. It was a ghost-town.

Rarity's sudden announcement was loud enough to wake up Ace, snapping out of his daydream. "Wha?" He asked as he shot his head upwards, signaling that he was awake.

"That looks like…..CANTERLOT!" Twilight beamed. "Oh, no!" She said before galloping down into the distance to where the city was.

"Twilight, wait!" Thunder shouted as he too began galloping, trying to catch up to Twilight. For a mare who was a twenty-four/seven book nerd, she was pretty fast and hard to keep up with.

"Oh, come on!" Strife yelled. "Can't you guys even stick together for one damn second?" He shot across the desert as his voice echoed through the vast emptiness. Neither Twilight nor Thunder Ice was listening as the continued to trot towards Canterlot.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Rainbow Dash said before unfolding her wings and launching herself into the air, a thin trail of a rainbow following close behind. She then glided across the arid desert air as she made her way towards Canterlot as well.

"Oh, what the heck!" Seamus threw out before joining the rest of the group.

"Yeah, VERY mature," Strife affirmed before slowly trotting his way down to where the others were. For some reason, he was in what seemed to be a cloudy mood at the time. Nopony dared to ask why he was like this, they just ignored him, making him feel even more insecure.

All the way in the back was Ace. He stood over the desert, watching his new-found friends make their way on over to Canterlot, or what was left of it. The place itself was what had brought back bad memories. How he was raised and abused countlessly when just a colt, and how his parents abandoned him at the age of thirteen as they was too poor to keep him any longer. All leading up to his ruling of Equestria and how he had almost been determined to answer the hardest question ever: life or death? That was only the beginning. Canterlot was literally the fury of hell itself as far as he was concerned, and it was only going to get worse. Ace thought as he too trotted down the small mountain atop the desert as he made his way to the remainder of Canterlot, soon to be known as Death City.

As Ace made his way down the hill formed out of sand, a creature far in the distance upon another hill observed him as he did so. Its piercing red eyes staring directly into Ace's soul as its black cape swiftly floated through the wind. Taking one more glance at the stallion, he quickly turned in the opposite direction. He disappeared in a dark flash.

Once Ace reached the bottom of the hill, he felt as if he was being watched. The feeling crept over his shoulders as he turned around and looked behind him, expecting some sort of figure that he could at least notice. To his surprise, nothing. All he saw was the vast array of land forms crafted out of sand across the blank canvas of the desert.

"Weird," Ace mumbled to himself as he turned back to face the remains of Canterlot once again. "Better get a move on before things get more out of place." With that, Ace unfolded his wings and dashed off towards the humble monuments and building only a few yards away from him.

* * *

Catching up to the rest of the group, Ace began his descent onto the stone ground with his four hooves as he folded his wings back up against his side. Observing the scenery around him, he realized that this place was in a chaotic state.

Buildings and towers lay across the ground overlapping each other. Structures were burnt to the ground and some were still on fire. Corpses of innocent civilians hung out of windows and were strewn across the ground. Little blood was to be seen. The scene was almost exactly the same as Ponyville, yet there was more collateral damage here.

"You're looking into the eyes of hell itself." Strife introduced the group to what used to be Canterlot as he marched in front, taking leadership. "How much worse can it get?"

"Oh please!" Rainbow Dash snapped as she plunged in until she was face to face with Strife. "I've seen stuff that will make your jaws drop to the floor!"

"Stay focused!" Twilight shouted as she used her magic to pull on Rainbow's tail. The result was a quick yelp from the rainbow mare as she was obedient once more. "Now that's better."

"What happened to this place?" Ace asked calmly as his head pointed upwards to the tall yet devastated buildings. They were either burned or torn down; the structure of the towers still held themselves together.

"Don't you remember?" Rainbow Dash recalled, facing Ace, who turned his head downward and faced her back. "The changelings must've gotten a hold of Canterlot and are probably using it for a base or something."

"Wait!" Twilight screamed, looking directly at Rainbow Dash. "Did you just say changelings?" Fear and anger both consumed her voice as she tried to spit out her question as quick as possible.

"Oh, yeah. Well, about that." Rainbow Dash began rubbing the back of her neck as she began to think of excuse to come up with as to why she didn't warn them earlier. "I mean, I never intended to NOT tell you, but it's just that I…never….got…the….. time to." She began to slow down her sentence at the end as she realized that it hadn't made any sense.

"Ok, that is just complete bull!" Strife shot out. "How in the whole wide world of Equestria am I supposed to believe that crappy lie?"

"Woah, wait. Hold on a sec," Seamus joined in, defending Rainbow's side. "I mean, sure Rainbow Dash can get a bit off focused from time to time, but it's nothing worth arguing for. Seriously, we've already had too many disruptions in the past. For once, I'd like to be in someplace where everypony is loved and respected equally. Where a young foal is equivalent to thus of a stallion. It's just too much for having constant arguments that we'll regret in the future. So, why can't we put the past behind us and focus in on the present. After all, why do you think they call it that? It is a gift, if you think about it."

There was a lengthy silence between the group as all they did was stare at one another. This was until Twilight spoke up.

"T-that was beautiful," Twilight responded as her face conveyed an expression of total shock and beauty. "I never knew you could do poetry."

"What?" Seamus asked. "Oh, that wasn't poetry. That was just pure instinct that came directly from the heart. All of us have it, but it matters whether or not you believe if you have it."

"Getting a little off topic…" The pitch of Thunder's voice became higher as he closed in on his sentence.

"Oh, right. I forgot." Twilight snapped out of her thoughts. "So, now we know that the changelings have taken over this place, we can assume that Chrysalis must be nearby."

"Wait, who's Chrysalis?" Strife asked. "And what the hell is a changeling?"

"Some colt you are," Thunder mumbled under his breath as he turned his head away so that the rest of the group wouldn't pick that up.

"A changeling is a mysterious breed of creatures that can change into anypony they so desire and feed off their love and affection," Twilight responded.

"In other words, they're these things that steal your identity and make a living out of it," Rainbow Dash repeated, flying back into the air.

"Well, THAT'S nice to know," Strife announced. "This place just keeps getting worse and worse."

"Stick with us and it won't be so bad," Rainbow Dash boasted before doing a quick loop in the air to get her energy out of her as she flew off above the city of Canterlot. "Come on you guys," she shouted, "I know how to get to Chrysalis. If we can confront her now, we'll surely be able to bring her down to her knees!"

"How do you know?" Ace asked from the ground.

"Just trust me on this. I know," Rainbow Dash screamed back as she was soon gone in the distance. The remainder of the group had no other better plan or idea, so it came to a conclusion as to what they was scheduled to do.

The rest of them followed Rainbow Dash.

* * *

Soaring across building after building, Rainbow Dash glanced behind herself every now and then to confirm that her friends were still following her. As she expected, they stayed right behind her. The rest of the gang kept a fast pace to follow the rainbow maned mare. Rainbow Dash had to slow down every now and then in order for the rest of the gang to catch up with her, they still were making good time. The sun hadn't even set yet and they were already close. Very close.

"Hey!" Strife began to pant loudly. "Slow down! You're killing us back here!" Strife soon came to a stop, tired from galloping such a long distance. It felt as if they had been traveling for days now, even though it hadn't even been an hour. The rest of the group, excluding Rainbow Dash, came to a stop as well, thinking the same thing.

"Strife does have a point," Thunder began breathing heavily as well. "This is too much to take. Can't we rest up for a while?"

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow Dash seized herself in the air and turned around to face the rest of the group down below her on the ground. "Can't you see we're making great time? If we rest any longer than we're supposed to, it could put us behind schedule."

"Since when have you become so attentive?" Twilight lifted her head up from the ground after regaining her breath. "As I recall, you never followed any sort of schedule whatsoever."

"But she does have a point," Ace spoke up. Pointing a hoof upwards to what seemed to be a corrupted castle up over a mountain, Ace yelled, "Look!"

Everypony turned their heads upward towards the direction Ace was pointing in. Up above the mountaintops was what appeared to be the world famous Canterlot Castle. Only something was different about it. Holes fractured the unstable monument as what seemed to be black ash leaked out some of the holes; green slime stuck to the outer rims of the structure. What was even worse was a large group of changelings was guarding the outer entrances. The same changelings that threatened to take over Equestria and soon the world. The same changelings who'd steal another pony's identify and feed off their love and affection. The same changeling that worked for the supreme leader of the catastrophic species, Queen Chrysalis.

"No," Twilight spoke softly to herself, "T-this can't be possible! It just can't be!" The volume of her voice increasing as she finished her sentence.

"What do they even want with us, much less, the city itself?" Seamus asked the rest of the group while looking back up as the devastated castle. "Haven't they already obliterated enough of it?"

"That, that is something I can't answer," Ace replied to the maroon alicorn.

"But why are they even guarding something that is already wrecked?" Rarity asked, "By the looks of it, that complex should be put out of its misery."

"Maybe it's not on the outside that they're guarding, but what's on the inside!" Twilight snapped, realizing what was going on.

"That might be the case," Ace added, "and if it is true, we have to find a different approach than just going in through the front which, in my opinion, is more than just heavily guarded. We'd get torn to shreds if we were to do something as foolish and stubborn as that."

"Well then, what other options do we have?" Seamus asked, turning to Ace.

"This might be risky, but I think I have a plan to get around this obstacle," Ace mentioned. "I can't guarantee we'll all get out unharmed, but this is our only option." Moving in closer, Ace began explaining to the group. Picking up a stick from the dirt ground in his mouth, he began tracing a complex line of series of hallways and rooms into the dirt with the stick. Ace spat the stick out of his mouth and began explaining.  
"What I drew here is a diagram of the underground caverns beneath Canterlot Castle. It's rumored to be an abandoned jail where prisoners were kept to either serve their time or were executed in many painful ways. The place is practically known for having the harshest methods for dying."

"Like what?" Strife interrupted.

"What?" Ace asked, turning towards Strife. "What do you mean?"

"Like what were the methods of execution for the prison thingy?" Strife's curiosity got the best of him; he wanted to know more about the underground cavern.

"Oh, well, umm…" Ace began rubbing his chin with his hoof, thinking of an answer. "Well, there's suffocation due to drowning or hanging, electrocution, injection, lack of food or water, decapitation, quartering; the possibilities were pretty much endless."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I want to get a good look at this place." Strife was pumped up from hearing this. He hadn't ever been like this, addicted to such harsh violence, but for some reason, it turned him on. It was as if he was hypnotized or something.

"Now, as I was saying," Ace resumed his plan, "The prison is located directly under Canterlot Castle, if I haven't mentioned that before. If we were to find the entrance to the underground cavern, we could easily reach the castle undetected, where we can confront Chrysalis and end all of this mayhem. Even though this sounds simple, it isn't. I'm not a hundred percent sure if all of us will make it out unharmed. Heck, given all we know, I expect a head or two to roll."

"Y-you don't mean that, do you?" Rarity began to tremble as she heard this. It was one thing for her to fear messes and getting dirty, but it was a completely different story when it came to her and the thought of death.

"Oh, hold your humans!" Strife called out to Rarity. "If you didn't listen, he expected a head or two to roll! Key word, expected! Expecting and occurring are two different things, if you haven't already noticed."

"Getting off topic here," Twilight announced. Calming down a bit and turning back to Ace, Twilight continued. "I know that you must be full of this plan as a whole and I'm not one to judge it or anything, but how do you even know this? I've never read about the underground cavern ever in my studies. All the books say is a mine-shaft a few miles under the castle, but nothing about an abandoned prison."

"For one, it's never been mentioned before because if word were to spread, countless ponies would be searching for the secrets within it. It is unfound architecture that very few know about. And now since we are faced within a consequence between life and death, this is out only opportunity to life itself," Ace explained. "To answer your second question, the reason of me being the very few to know about this is because when I was called in as the new leader of Equestria, they tell you things that nopony else ever knows exists. It's a tradition that has been running in the family of rulers for the past few centuries."

"Well then, now that we know what we're shooting for," Rainbow Dash stated. "Where do we go from here? I mean, where is the entrance to the underground jail prison?"

"Like I said before, I don't know," Ace replied. "I'd me more than delighted to tell you if I knew, but neither Celestia nor Luna had the time to ever tell me how to locate it, rather that it existed."

"So, what you're telling us is that there is a hole in the wall, yet you don't know where it is?" Seamus asked.

"Well, yeah." Ace answered. "You could put it like that."

"But that still doesn't answer my previous question!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "Where do we even go from here? It's as if we're travelers without a map. Pirates without a compass!"

"She does have a point," Twilight agreed, "We can't just go on from here. We lack any sort of direction or navigation. It's too risky to go unprepared."

"Well, that's life, my dear Twilight," Ace answered, testing his weak English accent on the lavender mare. "What's life without a little risk? Risk leads to fear, and fear leads to fight. It's all just the basics."

"But have you seen that place?" Rarity mentioned, looking up at the castle. "It's ginormous! One could easily get lost in its complexion, not to mention that it could all fall apart just in a second."

"Well, that's a challenge I'm willing to take," Ace said aloud before galloping towards the wreckage of castle upon the tall mountains only half a mile away. "For those of you brave enough to follow, I salute you. For those whose fear consumed them already, this is your chance to stay put; your choice."

"What? Calling the magnificent Rainbow Dash a fearful wimp? Your head must be hollow if you were ever to think such a thing!" Rainbow Dash dove down to the ground as she folded her wings up against her sides again and chased after Ace who was leading the group to the peaks Canterlot Castle.

"Better head up with them if you don't want to get lost," Thunder said slowly. Turning to Twilight, he continued, "After you." He stuck a hoof out in front of himself to signal for Twilight to go first.

"Why, thank you," Twilight played along. She began galloping along the trail that Ace was leading. Thunder followed close behind as he watched Twilight gain speed in front of him as she soon caught up to Rainbow Dash and Ace.

"We should probably get going as well," Seamus said as he turned to Strife. "You know, so we don't get lost."

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Strife replied in a tone of voice that sounded as if he didn't care. Turning his head upward, he began looking around the corrupted buildings that surrounded him. "Still, there's something that bothers me."

"What is it?" Seamus inched closer to the colt, waiting for Strife to respond.

"Nothing really," Strife said, "It's just that it's hard to believe that so much destruction could happen all of a sudden. Just a few days ago Canterlot was a fun, safe environment. But over the short period of a day, it's become this chaotic wasteland. And all due to those damn changeling creatures. If they can topple over a city overnight, then we better be prepared. From the looks of it, I don't think they take neither mercy nor pity on anything."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it right now that to defeat the queen of the creatures before their species grows more," Seamus pointed out. "Now come on, we have work to do."

Looking back at Seamus, Strife nodded his head as both colts dashed off into the distance that the rest of the group was headed it. For one thing, they knew what they had planned to do in order to confront Chrysalis without being detected. But what they didn't know was that Chrysalis was keeping an eye on them and was watching their every move ever since they reached Canterlot. It was a secret that they would soon find out one the time came. But now, only one thing mattered.

Locate the underground cavern.

**Ok, this chapter was painful. Over here, where I'm from, we've been struck with a huge heat wave, making it impossible to write. But, I still persisted myself to continue, even though I got writer's cramp halfway through the chapter. Also, I'd like to say this: Now that schools over, I will now have more time to write more in my fic. But the only problem is that I'll be going to my summer house over the weekdays. I'll be bringing my laptop to write, but there's no internet to post the chapters. I get back on the weekends and that's when I'll post chapters. Thus meaning now I'll be posting my chapters in groups because of this rather than them being separated. Also, I'm sorry to say that for the entire month of July, I'll be gone on vacation with no internet and no computer. This means that I can't and won't be writing at all for the month of July. I'll be getting back in the beginning of August, where I will once again continue writing my fic. Now, since that it taken care of, have a PMV or two made by one of my good friends who hates me. :D**

**/watch?v=ww40E4F3tf8&feature=plcp**

**(Also, thanks for Krushnazag over at fanfiction for proofreading)**


	37. Chapter 36 The Greatest Show Unearthed

** Ok, I have good news and bad news. The good news I'll be mentioning in the first authors note (this authors note), while the bad news I'll be mentioning in the second authors note (the one at the end). Ok, the good news is that I've finally gotten to the point where I can add another song. This means that this chapter finally features a song. (It's been a while since I've put a song into one of my chapters. I think the last one was chapter 30. Oh look at me. So many chapters to keep track of). Well, I'll tell you the bad news at the end. But for now, enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 36 – The Greatest Show Unearthed

The group had been galloping across the damaged city of Canterlot for the past hour in search of an entrance to the underground cavern. The sun had been on the very verge of setting; the last rays of light scattered across the quiet and calm land of Equestria. Ace knew that night would fall soon and that he would have to hurry up and use the remains of light to his advantage before it disappeared. Who knew what monsters would creep out in the dark of the night. Ace and the rest of the group only hoped that they wouldn't have to find out.

Then, it happened: right in front of them had been the large and tall mountain that stood not only on the edge of Canterlot, but the end of Equestria as well; the Crystal Mountain; the same mountain that held the castle of Canterlot since its creation.

Across the mountain was a set of train-tracks that led up the sheer rises to the castle. It had been the only way to get up and down from the castle, or so it was thought. Few knew about the secrets that lay beneath the castle itself. Such a nightmare would be too much for a mortal soul to take in and could lead to sudden death.

"We made it," Ace announced calmly as the night wind rustled through his mane. "We're here."

"But, but where's the cavern?" Twilight asked, looking at the base of the mountain in front of her. "It has to have an entrance somewhere."

"Now that's where our searching abilities come into play," Ace said. "Think of it as a simple game of hide-and-go-seek where the winner is the one who locates the entrance."

"And here I thought games were supposed to be fun," Strife said rolling his eyes. "This sounds boring as hell to me."

"Well, I guess you can just wait out here while the rest of us go inside once we find it," Ace shot back.

"Ok, ok," Strife threw up his hooves defensively, "I'll play your dumb little game. But if it kills me, you're the one I'm gonna blame first."

"Now that's more like it," Ace grinned. "Ok everypony, spread out. Tell us if you find anything interesting, ok?"

"On it!" Rainbow Dash confirmed, putting a hoof up to her forehead in a quick salute before launching off into the sky in search of an entrance to the underground cavern.

"Same," Twilight said as she dashed off into a different direction.

"I'm with her, so…." Thunder turned around as well and followed Twilight back to where she dashed off to.

"And you two handle this task by yourselves, correct?" Ace asked, facing both Seamus and Strife. Alone, the two had been useless, but something about them together made both of them seem perfect.

"Well, I guess so," Seamus responded nervously. "We do make a good team if you think about it."

"Yeah," Strife added, putting a hoof around Seamus's' shoulder. "Me and Sea have that 'special bonding' that not many other friends have. We're like two peas in-a-pod if you think about it."

"Ok, I guess," Ace said a little awkwardly, slowly backing away. "Just try not to get hurt or anything." With that, Ace took to the sky, flying up to where Rainbow Dash had been against the mountain.

"Well, you heard the big guy," Strife nudged Seamus gently. "C'mon, let's find the entrance to this dead prison or whatever."

"Um, I think you mean the underground cavern, but it really isn't that important," Seamus corrected. "So, where should we start?"

"I don't know nor do I care," Strife responded. "But that area over there happens to be calling my name." Strife pointed outwards to a large, ridged area against the Crystal Mountain. It seemed as though an avalanche occurred near that area and it had somehow been affected.

Galloping over to the area Strife mentioned he would be in, Seamus knew that Strife wanted to be alone for the time given, so he went over to another end of the mountain that hadn't been occupied. To his luck, Seamus found an area that was to be piled with a few boulders. Even though there hadn't been many boulders, each one was big enough to count as several.

Examining the boulders closely, Seamus could easily tell that they had been made out of andesite, a rough type of rock that, like granite, was made out of more than one material. He knew that identifying the rocks would tell him their mass and make-up, something that could come in very handy in a situation like this.

Slowly backing away from the rock, Seamus glanced once more at the sets of rocks from a distance. He could then see that the rock at the bottom had been twice as big as the two above it. This provided an even bigger challenge to Seamus as he had to use just his magic to lift the enormous boulders out of the way.

Closing his eyes, Seamus began focusing all his magic into his horn as a light aura floated around his horn. The aura soon covered one of the two rocks on the top as Seamus used his magic to lift up the rock and put it down to the left, out of the way from the rest of the rocks. He did the same with the other rock on top putting it off to the side as well.

"Two down, one to go," Seamus thought. He knew that this last rock hadn't been a rock at all, rather a boulder. Its enormous size and weight triple the size of Seamus himself. Half of him said he could do it, yet the other half denied it and told him he couldn't. But Seamus wanted to show them. He wanted to show them all. He wanted to show them that he hadn't been just a regular pony. He wanted to show them that he had been anything BUT that. That he was an alicorn. A true, strong , brave alicorn.

Spreading to steady himself, Seamus closed his eyes once more and focused in every last ounce of magic that flowed through his mare-ish body. Just like before, the aura returned on his horn again as well as around the boulder as well.

Seamus could now find himself struggling to move the boulder out of the way. He knew that he didn't have enough strength to move the boulder, but it hadn't been the strength that counted. It had been the courage. And Seamus was full of it.

Digging his hooves firmly into the solid dirt ground just to keep his balance, Seamus could feel the weight of the boulder itself over his own body as he kept on persisting to lift the massive object. Both sweat and tears trickled down his smooth face as he struggled as hard as his body would allow it.

But it hadn't been enough.

Seamus could tell that he hadn't been lifting the boulder an inch. Not by sight, but by touch. The weight would weaken slowly if he had been able to lift the boulder, but all it did was get harder and fiercer every second. Seamus knew he would have to take a different approach and fast before he would pass out from exhaustion.

Then it hit him.

Seamus soon realized that if lifting the boulder wasn't possible, then maybe he could simply roll it to the side.

Seamus was feeling as weak as ever and had barely enough energy to stand up, but this would be his last chance. His last chance to show them all what he really had been made of.

Focusing his energy again, Seamus began concentrating on the ability of pushing, rather than lifting. Seamus didn't have enough energy as before, but it still had been enough for him to perform magic.

Finally, it worked.

A loud crunching sound was emanated as the boulder itself began to roll slightly. It began to pick up speed as Seamus pushed harder and harder on it with his unstable magic.

Apparently, the sound had been loud enough for everypony else to hear as they all turned their heads to Seamus to find him rolling the colossal rock.

Rushing over to assist him, the group was forced to stand back and watch as Seamus rolled the boulder; unaided other than his magic.

Finally, the aura around the rock faded away as the one around Seamus's horn did the same. The boulder had successfully been moved out of the way. The group soon gasped at what they saw in the stone's place.

There was a long, dark, treacherous hole engraved into the side of the mountain. It had been a few yards high and wide, able to be crawled through by a cyclopes.

"God job, Seamus," Ace said appreciatively, putting a hoof gently on his back. "Looks like you were able to find the entrance to the place all by yourself."

Seamus slowly began to rock back and forth, his heavily lidded. Using all his energy and magic to roll the boulder over, Seamus didn't even have enough energy to focus, let alone stand up properly. Ace Noticed this quickly.

"Maybe you should take it easy for a while," Ace said in a little, high pitched voice. "You're in no condition to fight."

"Fight? Who said anything about fighting?" Rarity said frantically.

"It's just an expression," Ace replied back, looking at the white mare. "More like a figure of speech. But still, I can't guarantee we'll be the only ones in the underground cavern." Ace began examining the insides of the cave in front of him.

"Well, only one way to find out! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she dashed into the cave.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Thunder yelled, trying to get Rainbow Dash to slow down. "I don't know why, but she has the brain of a squirrel."

Twilight giggled a little before trotting down the cave as well, passing Thunder Ice. "You just read my mind."

Thunder followed behind the lavender mare as always as the two entered the cave. Strife had been next as Rarity took her time when entering, avoiding all the rough ground or insects, or anything that had been dirty.

All that had been left were Seamus and Ace as the stood in front of the large cave that they expected would lead into the underground cavern. Looking back at Seamus, Ace knew that he didn't have enough energy to walk, rather move, so Ace gently placed the tired alicorn on his back and slowly began trotting down the cave, not expecting what would come next.

* * *

"Damn, this place is dark," Strife said loud enough for everypony to hear. "It's as if this place wants me lose my sanity."

"Don't think that way," Thunder said, looking back. "If you do, then you WILL go insane."

The group had now been traveling through the cave for several minutes. Ever step they moved further into the cave, it got darker and darker. If this kept up, soon they wouldn't have any light to see with.

Suddenly, music began playing. The noise glided through the air as the catchy melody rang though the cave.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" Thunder asked.

"Yeah," Twilight was first to respond as usual. "It sounds very mysterious."

"Leave it to the unicorn to come up with a good adjective," Strife said quietly to himself. Apparently it had been loud enough for Twilight to hear as well.

"Well, sorry that I can't think straight in this darkness!" Twilight shouted back.

"Hey, cool it!" Ace yelled at the two. "We don't have time for anymore arguing."

"Well, she started it," Strife pointed a hoof towards Twilight.

"BUT YOU WERE THE ONE WHO…!" Twilight was interrupted as Thunder shoved a hoof up Twilights mouth, preventing her from speaking. All that could be heard were the muffled voices as she struggled to get the hoof out of her mouth.

"You were saying?" Thunder turned to Ace.

"Thank you," Ace responded formally. Just then, the music began to get louder as it rang in everypony's ear.

"What is that?" Rainbow Dash snapped. "It's really starting to get on my nerves!"

"Well, I don't know what it is, but I surely know where it is," Ace answered. "It seems to be coming from the end of this cave."

"But just what is at the end of this filthy and horrid cave?" Rarity spoke up.

"Think of it more like a magic trick," Ace began, "the ball could be in any of the three cups. There is more than one possibility. There is no real way to know approximately what cup the ball can be under. All one can do is guess and hope that their assumption is correct."

"What he's saying is that he has no clue," Rainbow simplified.

"Why, thank you," Ace said irritably.

"Anytime," Rainbow Dash simply responded.

"Guys, look!" Thunder Ice announced in front of the group. He pointed a hoof towards the far end of the cave.

In the distance had been what seemed to be a steel door against the dirt walls of the cave as well as a torch that was still lit and had been producing light well. Thunder and the rest of the group could easily tell that the rhythmic music was coming out of that very door, yet they didn't know what was going on over there.

"The underground cavern! We did it!" Ace shouted victoriously. "In all my years of living, I'd never thought to get this far as to explore something as valuable as diamonds themselves."

"Did somepony say diamonds?" Rarity's head shot up like a missile.

"Focus, as always," Twilight calmed the group down. "Now, I want to see for myself what this underground cavern really is and the secrets within it. More importantly I want to take down that rotten Queen Chrysalis pain and take back Equestria once more!"

"Sheesh. Looks like somepony's having their moment," Strife whispered to Thunder Ice.

"Ok, we'll all go as a group, unlike last time!" Ace looked up directly at Rainbow Dash.

"What?" She asked innocently. "I didn't do anything wrong.

Ace sighed before continuing. He knew that Rainbow was a very stubborn mare, but he had to admit, if it hadn't been for her, he wouldn't be alive right now.

"Never mind. " Ace put that thought behind for now, focusing on the task ahead of them. "Now, just follow my lead and nopony go ahead me. We'll take our time and be careful. Celestia knows what evil and disgust lurks behind that steel door. One can only pray that it isn't blood-thirsty."

"Can we just go already? My hooves are getting tired from trotting so long." Rarity complained.

"Leave it to the white mare to make you want to chop your ears off with a saw and boil them," Strife said imaginatively.

"We're going now!" Ace announced, breaking up what would have ended in a fight between the two unicorns.

Ace began trotting down the cave once more, heading towards the door. Both the light from the torch and the music increased as he went on further and further, the rest of the group following close behind.

A short trot brought them to the steel door at the end of the cave. The fire of the torch crackled causing its waving light to dance across the area.

Ace could now hear the music clearly. The only thing separating him from whatever lurked in the underground cavern was the steel door itself. The door had looked heavy to Ace and he was this temped to get Seamus to open it with his magic. That's when it hit him.

_Where is Seamus?_

Quickly turning around, Ace expected to find the worn-out alicorn lying on his back, still tired from lifting the enormous rocks out of the way. But to his surprise, he wasn't there. All Ace could see was the remainder of his back as Seamus had disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Twilight was the first to realize that something had been wrong.

"W-where's Seamus?" Ace stuttered. "H-he was on my back j-just a while ago."

"Oh, don't tell me we lost Seamus," Rainbow Dash put a hoof up to her face. "Great. It's bad enough we lost Fluttershy and Dusk, but now Seamus too! If this keeps up, all of us will be torn apart!"

"Well, what do we do?" Thunder asked. "We can't just go after Seamus. Can we?"

"No, it's too late." Ace closed his eyes halfway and looked down at the ground. "We've already made it this far. We can't turn back now. Chrysalis is still in the process of developing her army again. It's best if we go and confront her right now, when she's still weak and vulnerable. And even if we were to go after him, where would we search? Equestria is too big of a place to play hide-and-go-seek in. IT could take us weeks, maybe even months to track him down."

"But what if we don't find him?" Twilight asked in a scared voice. "He could get injured out there or maybe even die!"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Ace responded, looking back up. He put a hoof on the steel door. "It's best to finish what we started before moving on to something else. I'm sorry, everypony, but life isn't always fair." With that, Ace pushed against the steel door as hard as he could. It began to chip a little as slowly opened, allowing the light long with the music to flow right out.

Ace kept on pushing till the door had been wide enough for everypony to go through. He held the door until he was the last one to cross.

The first thing everypony did once they entered the place was look around at their surroundings. What they expected to find was an old, abandoned prison of some sort. But what they got was a little extra.

Rusted cell bars were placed against the walls as a usual prison would contain. Skeletons and even some corpses lay against the walls of the cells as the flies bit on the raw meat of what was left of them. The area seemed as if it was a nightmare of a video game where the setting had been an abandoned prison, and they were the victims.

/watch?v=oVwqkBG0ulE (open link in new tab on YouTube)

Suddenly, a rough voice was emanated through the air as everypony turned to see where it had come from. It had been what seemed to be a slightly obese pony with completely black hide and no mane or tail. It had no hair whatsoever and screamed the feeling of death just by the looks of it.

**_Mares and Stallions,_**

**_Fillies and Ghouls,_**

**_Step right up._**

**_Behind this curtain lies a ghastly concoction of delight, horror, fantasy and terror._**

**_Your every wish is our command._**

**_Your every whimsical desire brought to life._**

**_But I'm warning you, there's always a price._**

**_Welcome to the greatest show unearthed! _**

"Oh, no!" Ace thought. He knew the underground cavern had been a dark place, but neither Celestia nor Luna said anything about it being a circus! He knew nothing good could come from it. All his head told him to do was play along and hope they don't mess with him and the rest of the group.

The ponies could soon feel the craziness of the influential melody begin to make their way into their own bones as they began to shake along to the beat too. It was irresistible.

Suddenly, in the center of the prison, on a stand had been a dark shadow with beaming red eyes. The group could see that it was holding a top hat on its head as it looked at the group.

As the creature looked up, everypony could soon get a good glimpse of it. It was a light brown pony with a dark brown tail, a small black top hat, and a white cane. But what was fearful about him the most was where his left eye should've been, a huge patch of hide around it had been missing, showing only the bone of the area. Blood leaked out of the area, showing that the creature must still be alive, or had been recently.

As the music continued, the creature began to sing.

_The dark carnival is in town._

_You better be ready._

_Just follow the parade,_

_Of dancing skeletons._

_For a ghoulish delight,_

_Around every corner._

_Don't tell your parents you're her,_

_They will soon be mourners._

_Welcome to the lower birth,_

_The greatest show unearthed._

_We appear without a sound,_

_The darkest show around._

_We will leave you in a daze,_

_Madness, murder, dismay. _

_We will disappear at night,_

_With blood on the concrete._

Just as on cue, the blood from the gap in his left eye fell to the floor and splashed on the concrete. It had been as every part of the song fit perfectly with the corresponding actions. Even with the dancing skeletons, Ace swore he saw some of the corpses and skeletons move a little against the wall after he spoke of that.

_I will be your ticket taker._

_Come inside, it's a dream._

_Enter the fun house of mirrors._

_Nopony can hear you scream._

_We can supply anything,_

_That your heart desires._

_But the consequences,_

_Will surely be dire. _

_Welcome to the lower birth,_

_The greatest show unearthed._

_We appear without a sound,_

_The darkest show around._

_We will leave you in a daze,_

_Madness, murder, dismay. _

_We will disappear at night,_

_With blood on the concrete._

The madness had just started as more and more circus freaks came out of nowhere. It was a place where the word, sanity, had no meaning.

_Welcome to the lower birth,_

_The greatest show unearthed._

Ace finally realized why the princesses were so reluctant to tell anypony about the cursed underground cavern. They had hardly given Ace any details about it. But now, now that Ace had seen what went on by itself, the sight horrified him. Never had he seen a performance take place underground in an abandoned prison. But after thinking that, it finally hit him.

"THAT'S why they call it the greatest show unearthed," Ace said to himself. "Because it's dead performance and spine tingling scenes are what made it unable to be shown above ground, as well as the circus takes place far beneath Canterlot Castle"

The irresistible song continued on as creature by creature awoke from their cell and made their way onto the floor, showing off their talents. While most of them had been some sort of pony creature, others hadn't been even close. There even was one that had the shape and size of a werewolf!

_Come inside for the ride,_

_Your deepest, darkest fear._

_The best night of your life,_

_You're never leaving her._

_The unknown, the unseen,_

_Is what you're gonna find._

_Witness this, witness that,_

_Until you lose your mind._

It finally hit Ace what this place reminded him of; the music, the horror. It all seemed too familiar to another ghoulish holiday celebrated by colts and fillies: Nightmare Night. But never had dark, mysterious music be this catchy as to drive somepony insane. Maybe that's what everypony meant. Maybe that's why they didn't tell anypony about this place due to its dire consequences previously mentioned in the song.

Ace didn't care about the song anymore. All he wanted to do was escape. Escape before he lost it as well; before his friends are lost in the song forever; before everything was over.

_Welcome to the lower birth,_

_The greatest show unearthed._

_We appear without a sound,_

_The darkest show around._

_We will leave you in a daze,_

_Madness, murder, dismay. _

_We will disappear at night,_

_With blood on the concrete._

Soon, all the creatures began to sing along as the tune grew louder and louder. As if the song hadn't been crazy enough; it was as addicting as drugs.

Turning to his left, then to his right, Ace could see that his friends had begun to sing along to the music as well. It had been as if they had been hypnotized by it.

"Why wasn't I affected, then?" Ace thought to himself. "What's different between me and everypony else?"

Soon, the music began to die down slowly. Ace was relieved that this had been the end. He couldn't take any more of this particular music, especially since it nearly hypnotized his friends permanently.

Right as the music came to a stop, Ace could tell that the rest of the gang had finally snapped out of their trances. He heard moans and rubbing of heads. He could tell that his friends had gone back to normal, yet he still had one more question that his curiosity sprang into his mind:

_ Who was the empire pony?_

There was a small silence between everypony as each side looked at each other, examining their aspects and looks. It had been complete silence for a good minute before Ace stepped forward and spoke up.

"Um, hello," Ace said a little nervously to the light brown pony with the cane and small top hat. He was standing on a platform only two feet above ground.

"Oh, hello there, my boy," the pony said very quickly in a rushed tone. "Come to see the show? Well, I've got just the place for you. Oh, a see you've brought friends as well." Looking at Rainbow Dash, he continued, "and even a mare-friend! How nice."

Turning around to see who he had been looking at, Ace turned back to the pony with an intense blush across his face. "What? She's not my mare-friend! And I don't even wa-"

"Oh, sorry to make you blow a fuse. Do you want some water to calm down? Here, take this." Taking out a sprayer, the pony squirted some water onto Ace's face, pissing him off even more. "There, now you're all refreshed and hydrated."

Wiping the water off with the side of his hoof, Ace looked up towards the pony with dark eyes. "Look, I don't want to cause any trouble or anything but-"

"Trouble? How in Equestria would I be causing trouble? " Regardless of what he said the pony always kept a smile imprinted on his face. It was as if his lips had been stitched into that positing permanently. "Hey, how about I do this. Buy two tickets, get the third one for original price. Eh? How's that float your boat?"

"Just to let you know my boat sank a long time ago. About since I entered this place," Ace said in a low tone. "And for the last time, I'm not interested in the show!"

"Ok, ok. Fine. Suit yourself," The pony still spoke very quickly. He spoke almost as fast as Pinkie herself.

"Boy would Pinkie love this guy," Ace thought to himself.

"How about buy five tickets, and get one percent off the sixth. What do you think of that?" The pony shot out.

"Okay, look," Ace began. "I don't want your services, I don't want your performances, I don't want your water sprayer, I don't want your cane, I don't want your top-hat, and I certainly don't want your damn tickets!" Ace grew louder as he spoke, yelling as he finished. Ace was red from screaming so much that and he was on the verge on snapping this pony's neck in half and eating his heart out.

Stepping forward, Rainbow Dash put a hoof in front of Ace and spoke up. "Here, let me try."

"Oh, look who we have here. The fellas little mare-friend. How adorable," The pony began.

"For the last time, SHE'S NOT MY MA-" Ace was soon cut off by Rainbow.

"Like I said, let me deal with this clown," She kept a calm and cool tone the entire time. Turning back to the brown pony, Rainbow introduced herself quickly and briefly to the empire pony.

"Hey there. Name's Rainbow Dash. Fastest flier in Equestria. Undefeated. Everypony knows me and wants to be me. Yada yada yada." Her words began to drift off as she ended her sentence.

"Then how come I don't know you if everypony else does?" the empire asked. "And how can you be the fastest filer in all of Equestria with THAT body? Sure I can admit its sheik, sexy, etc. But for flying? You make me laugh." The pony chuckled to add more effects to his words.

"Oh you wanna go?" Rainbow zoomed up to him, flapping her wings as she had been suspended in air, only inches from his face.

Putting the curved end of the cane around Rainbow's neck, he pulled her forth till their muzzles touched. "Don't even try," he whispered to her. He still had the same smile imprinted on his face as he said so. "I may seem weak and worn out, but that's what death does to you. Eats away at your heart and soul." Unhooking the cane from the mare's neck, the pony pushed Rainbow Dash in her stomach backwards with her hoof, resulting in her hitting the cement ground with her back.

"Rainbow!" Ace yelled, rushing over to her assistance. Twilight did the same as she approached the cyan Pegasus as well.

"You sick bastard," Ace said quietly, slowly looking up at the empire pony.

"Oh, I have no problem getting physical," The empire pony responded.

Suddenly, a shadow began circling around the pony faster and faster like a mini tornado. After a short while, two red eyes stuck out as the shadows stopped moving. The pony was completely black now. His mouth and nose along with the huge gash over his left eye had been covered. He was no longer wearing a top hat. Even his cane had transformed. It was now a sizeable dagger that he held in his hoof. Altogether he looked like an assassin, which sent chills down Ace's spine.

"It's just what I do best," the newly transformed pony continued. "Now, which pony wants to roll the dice first?"

Taking no sorts of precautions, Ace charged as fast as he could towards the dark pony, yelling out what seemed to be a battle cry at the enemy.

Knowing his opponent, the pony jumped out of the way right as Ace was only a few inches away. He flew over his target and nearly crashed into the floor, barely catching himself with his wings.

Doing a quick flip or two, the pony landed back on his hind legs only, standing up proud and tall. He had landed directly on the same part of the stand that he stood on before. "Is that the best you've got? I've seen chickens with better reflexes than you!" the dark pony exclaimed.

Once again offended by this, Ace locked onto his target again and dove in for another attack, but this time while flying. Instead of the dark pony jumping up into the air like before, he leaned out of the way a little. Just as Ace passed by him, he stuck out his dagger. It caught Ace as he flew by, tearing open a gash in his hide.

Ace yelped in pain as he passed by the dark pony. Backing away, he took a good look at his incision to see that his left side had a cut a few inches deep and around a foot long. The cut hurt bad, but it made him stronger.

"Ok, that's it! No more playing easy!" Ace announced before charging again at the pony.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was I going too hard on you? Maybe I should DIE it down a little." The pony made a quick pun before doing the same routine as last time, except this time he made a mark on Ace's right side, causing him to howl in pain again.

"Ace, stop! You've done enough!" Twilight yelled.

"The purple mare's right," The dark pony said, "persist and I'll have a new head to hang over my fireplace."

"N-no!" Ace made out as blood leaked out of his mouth. "He knew the consequences of his own actions, yet he ignored them. Now it's time for him to pay the price." As always, Ace charged once again to the empire pony, but this time, he didn't move. All he did was stand there as Ace neared him. Inch by inch soon turned to centimeter until Ace had been on the verge of colliding head first into him. But that's when he went overboard.

This time, instead of aiming for the sides of Ace like before, the empire pony made one quick movement by sliding the dagger across Ace's left wing. It had been a sudden movement, and the empire pony barely had time to defend himself as Ace passed by.

Crashing onto the ground, Ace felt a burning sensation across his left side. He was laid out on the concrete ground, lying flat on his stomach, hoofs spread out.

A series of yells and screams were soon emanating from the group as Ace saw Rarity pass out from the corner of his eye. He didn't know why everypony had been so terrified all of a sudden. But that was until Twilight spoke up.

"Ace, your wing!" She screamed, shocked at the sight in front of her.

"My what?" Ace asked, turning to his left wing, Ace could see that where his wing was supposed to be had been a huge gash that leaked out blood like a waterfall, yet no wing. Lying next to him was his sliced off wing, also leaking blood. It was a gory sight that few could stand.

"You arrogant bastard," Ace managed to say one last time as he felt the pain get to him. He felt his life draining out of him as he turned back to the shadow of the empire pony.

"What can I say?" The empire pony said, looking innocent. "You rolled the dice, and screwed up. You knew the risk you'd be facing, yet you took it for granted." Turing around, with his back to the gang, he motioned a hoof outwards. "Take them to the cells. I've had enough of their company for one day."

The performers from the circus began closing in on the group, taking each one by the legs. Struggling was not an option as the performers were bigger and stronger than the six ponies.

All Ace could do was lie on the floor in pain. He watched one by one as his friends were taken in as prisoners; Strife, Twilight, Rarity, Thunder Ice. Even Rainbow Dash, who he could still hear moaning.

For some reason, he had been the only one who hadn't been taken in yet. He soon heard the clopping sound of hoofsteps on the floor as he looked upwards. It was the empire pony, except now he had returned to his earlier form with the top-hat and cane, not to mention the huge gap of bone around his left eye. He was standing on his hind two legs as before.

Looking up, Ace saw the evil in the pony's eye as he could see he had been getting ready to say something else, the same creepy smile still implanted onto his face.

"Just remember one thing," the empire pony began. "Don't fuck with the big-shots."

With that, the empire pony lifted up his cane with both front hooves, and brought it down onto Ace's head, cracking his skull.

Ace heard a crunching sound as it all went dark…..

** Talk about a good cliffhanger. The song in this chapter was The Greatest Show Unearthed by Creature Feature. I want to thank JasonTheDemon over at fanfiction for introducing me to the song. Once I heard it, I loved it enough to find a way to insert it into my fic. Oh, and talk about that empire pony as well. He took a lot of creativity to produce, and I think it went well. **

** Now, onto the bad news. I'm actually sorry to say this, but this will be the last chapter in a while. The thing is, I'm going vacationing on July 3****rd**** and won't get back till around the 30****th**** of July. (In other words, that's an entire month.) And the thing is, where I'm going, there's no internet. No updates. And to make matters even worse, I won't be bringing my laptop to type anything. I'll still have other devices to type with, yet it won't be as fast and I probably won't be able to get anything done anyways. So, I'm sorry to say that I'm going to be putting this fic on hold for an entire month. Sorry. D: But when I get back, I'll be sure to continue this story just like before with regular updates. **

** Thanks to krushnazag for proofreading. Dat be it.**


	38. Chapter 37 A Tear Hits the Ground

**I'M BAAACK! I'm so sorry That I've been away for so long, but be happy now that we can resume this fic once again. I swear I'll make it up to you all by writing more starting from now on. I have a lot more ideas for the future, and if you haven't realized yet, this is only the beginning. **

**(By the way, don't ask me anything about my trip. *shivers in a ball* Soooo many airplane rides.)**

Chapter 37 – A Tear Hits the Ground

A slight giggle rang in Ace's ear as he was suddenly turned on. He had shut off almost all awareness in order to listen. He heard a light giggle every now and then that sounded like it came from the same pony, although it would ring in one ear, then the other. After a few minutes, Ace's consciousness told him to wake up and actually take a good look around himself to see what it was.

Slowly opening his eyes, his sense of touch soon came into play just as his sense of sight did as well. He found himself with an extreme case of blurred vision as well as his body being laid out just as before, with his stomach pressed against the floor and his hoofs spread out. It was almost as if he was in position to be violated.

Pushing his front two hoofs upward, Ace got up halfway and rubbed his eyes with his foreleg to clear out his blurred vision. Once his vision came into focus, he took in his surroundings. He was in what seemed to be an end of a forest with a few trees and plant life, yet no civilization for miles. There was a waterfall leading into what seemed to be a large pond or small lake in the center. But what Ace saw near him was what confused him the most.

Near him, just a few feet away, was Rainbow Dash. To his shock, he had no idea what she was doing there; nopony else was around.

She approached the waterfall, making sure that Ace was watching her. Ace was on the verge of asking her what she was doing, or, more importantly, where he was, but his instinct refused to. It told him to shut up and just watch carefully.

Just as Rainbow approached the waterfall, she looked down at the clear water spring that shined in the bright light of day that was almost blinding. Then, with one quick movement, she unfolded her wings until they was completely extended and dove into the clear water in front of her. Ace just stood back and watched from a far enough distance.

She was suspended under the water for a good while as Ace just looked down in search of a cyan blur of any sort. But the water was a similar color to her coat, allowing her to stay hidden. Even her mane was hidden as well as the thickness of the water prevented the naked eye from seeing through it.

Then, Rainbow Dash suddenly popped to the surface as water splashed everywhere around her. Ace had to cover his eyes a little to prevent the water droplets from coming in contact with his eyes.

Looking back, Ace could see Rainbow in the middle of the large spring as he stood just on the edge of ground near the water bay. Taking a good look, he could see Rainbow's sleek body getting hit with the clear, blue water as it soaked her. Her mane was completely flat and flew down her head and neck and even got a little in her eyes.

All she did was smile a little innocently as Ace got a good look of her. He was breathless. Never in his life had he been attracted to a mare so full of herself, yet here he was, pretty much eye raping the mare as she allowed him to.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof into the air and brought it back against her head as she laid back. She repeated the same motion with her other hoof as her hind legs kicked against the water. She swam backwards until she reached the other end of the pond, opposite from Ace.

Laying against the rocky edge of the ground near the pond, Rainbow put her hooves back in the water as she stayed afloat. Her wings were folded up against her side; the only things sticking out of the water were her neck and head.

She swung her head back and forth, trying to get the water out of her hair, spraying the water droplets everywhere like last time. Once she was done, she looked back at Ace with her eyes half closed. Ace felt himself fully turned on by this new Rainbow Dash, yet he knew something about her hadn't been right. That something bad would soon happen.

"Come on in, Ace," she began to speak, motioning him forward, "The water's fine."

Ace just stood there dumbfounded. Every inch of him wanted to jump into the water right then and there- except his mind, it kept telling him to resist. But it soon occurred to him: when would he ever have an experience like this ever again? The question stung, and it stung hard.

"W-why do you want me in the w-water?" Ace began tripping over his own words due to nervousness. "W-what will you d-do?"

"Oh, you know," Rainbow replied in a very calm tone, "I want to have _fun_ with you."

By now, Ace was sweating as his face was completely red. His face was as red as to be mistaken for a tomato. He wanted so bad to follow his heart and join Rainbow, but his mind was what had taken over.

"I-I'm sorry, I c-can't." Ace put his head down, avoiding eye contact with the dazzling mare.

"Don't deny it," Rainbow urged. "You know you want to."

Ace didn't even answer at this point. He didn't want to, nor could he. He didn't know if this was a living dream or a nightmare. The mixture of pain and guilt bit at him like a snake as more and more pressure built up on him, waiting for it to all collapse over himself.

"Come in," Rainbow Dash repeated.

"Come."

"Come."

Suddenly. Ace began feeling lightheaded as he collapsed to the ground. His vision began to blur up lightly as last time as he felt the life slip out of him again.

"Come."

"Come."

"Come!"

"Come!"

"Come!"

For some reason, the voices inside his head kept on getting louder and louder, even though his vision decreased.

"Come!"

"Come!"

Just like before, the only one of his senses that worked was his hearing; the only one that he wish he didn't have at the moment.

"Come on!"

"Come on!"

Suddenly, Ace heard another voice that hadn't been Rainbow Dash's; it was much more masculine, more of a colt's voice than a mare's.

"Here, let me try," the pony said. Ace heard a little scratching sound of metal across a stone floor and he heard hoofsteps approach him.

"COME ON, DAMN IT!" the pony screamed before slamming the object he wielded onto Ace's head.

"OWW!" Ace yelled as he awoke from his dream. He began rubbing his head violently from the sudden impact. "What'd you do that for?!" Opening his eyes, Ace could see it was Strife who had hit him as he noticed him holding a shovel in his hoofs.

"Ace!" Rainbow Dash yelled before diving towards the stallion and wrapping her hooves around him. "I thought you wouldn't wake up from losing so much blood."

"Losing so much blood?" Ace questioned. "What do you me-, oh." Ace quickly turned his head around to his left side to find the same gash of where his left wing should've been, along with the small incision from the dagger coming in contact with his hide.

Letting go of Ace, Rainbow slowly backed away into the rest of the group. Standing there was her, Strife, Twilight, Thunder, and Rarity, who was unconscious once again.

"Let me guess: Seamus is still missing?" Ace asked

"Yep," Rainbow answered simply.

"Shocking," Ace said with a false gasp, "but I'm still wondering: where are we?"

"Don't you remember?" Twilight asked. "That rotten-hearted pony that cut off your wing threw us all in here cause he said that we "bore him" or something."

"Yeah," Strife agreed. "When I get my hooves on that little bitch, I'll show him no mercy. He'll be crawling on his arms, if I decide to spare them, that is."

"Too far!" Rarity shouted. She had never been a fan of gore.

"Ugg, so now what?" Ace asked, still rubbing his head from the incident. "We can't just stay here. There has to be some way out."

"There is," an unfamiliar mare-ish voice responded. It was light and delicate, just like Fluttershy's, yet different in an unnoticeable way.

"W-who said that?!" Rarity began freaking out. "Show yourself!"

"Wait, just wait." Ace said to Rarity. "You got to be gentle when dealing with new creatures."

Getting up on all four hooves, Ace called out. "Hello? Is anypony there?"

"Yes," the same voice repeated. Only this time, Ace and the rest of the group could tell where it had come from.

There was a dark corner of the cell where the light did not shine. And it also was the same spot where the voice echoed from.

"Well, do you mind showing yourself?" Ace asked the mysterious voice, looking into the depths of the dark corner.

"I refuse to show my face to the weak and unprotected due to my contradictions," the voice began.

"Hey, who ya callin' weak and unprotected?!" Strife snapped, nearly diving towards the dark corner.

"Easy, dude." Thunder put a hoof out, blocking the energetic colt. "Let Ace do what he needs to do first."

"So, is that a no then?" Ace questioned, confused at what he had just heard.

"In other words, the decision is yours," the voice announced. With that, the creature's eyes opened suddenly. Ace and the rest of the group could see the creature had what seemed to be light blue eyes. Due to the contrast of the darkness, they stood out like a lunar eclipse at daytime.

"Well then, due to my choosing and consideration, I'd be delighted to get a glimpse of another innocent soul." Ace began playing along with the creature by imitating its accent.

"Very well, then." With that, the creature closed its eyes and slowly began trotting out of the darkness. Once it finished, Ace and the rest of the group took a glimpse of the mare, or what was left of her.

She, as a whole, had looked like the city of Canterlot after the changelings took over. She had scars and cuts everywhere across her body. She had a teardrop cutie mark and her right ear looked as if the tip was bitten off. Her mane and tail was a very dull pink and flat as it ran down her face. Her coat was an even duller and lighter shade of pink. Just like before, her eyes were the color of the sea itself. And above the top of her head was one other than a unicorn horn.

"My name…. my name is Weepy-Cry," the mare exclaimed in a saddened tone. "Although it's alright of you were to call me Weepy.

"Well then, Weepy," Ace began, "How did you end up to where you are now?"

"Oh, that." Weepy thought carefully. "I don't want to be rude or anything, but I like to forget the past and move on to the future, that is, if you don't mind me really answering that."

"Not at all," Ace replied, "We can be as comfortable as you want us to be. Just think of it as a special service of some sort that you're obligated to take."

"Oh, ok," Weepy confirmed, not understanding a word Ace told him.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Ace said playfully, slapping himself weakly on the head. He already had enough pain for one day. "Here, I'm Ace. That's Strife. That's Rarity. That's Twilight. That's Thunder Ice. And this is Rainbow Dash," he said, pointing to each of the ponies as he referred to them, "but I don't expect you to remember them all at once.

"Oh, it's no problem, really," Weepy replied, a slight bit confident. "There's Ace, Strife, Rarity, Twilight, Thunder Ice, and Rainbow Dash, if I'm correct."

All everpony else did was stand back in awe as they gasped on the pony's amazing talent's at memory.

"H-how did you remember all that so quickly?!" Strife yelled at the frightened mare.

"Well, it's just another talent I possess." Weepy began to hide half of her face in her mane. "It's a special gift that runs in the family."

"Then what does that cutie mark represent?" Twilight spoke up. "You know, the water droplets one."

"Oh, those aren't water droplets." Weepy answered. "They're tear droplets. They represent fear and sadness."

"But you don't seem sad at all, darling," Rarity exclaimed, "You look beautiful and proud."

"I may seem so now, but I earned my cutie mark in the past," Weepy began, "Back then, my life was hard. Some might even say I was cursed or something. I used to cry away my days from night to day, sun to moon. But I didn't know at the time that crying didn't solve your problems, and I learned it the hard way."

"What happened?" Twilight asked in her most calm and comfortable voice. "Please tell us."

"I'm sorry," Weepy responded, "I, I just can't." She was on the verge of crying by now as a tear escaped her left eye.

"Oh, darling," Rarity said, putting a hoof around the frightened mare, "Don't get scared or anything with us. We're your friends."

"Yeah, we're with you until the end," Thunder added.

"Oh, um. That won't really be necessary," Weepy said, "I've never had friends, and I don't work well with new ponies. That is, I like to spend my days crying them away, if you don't mind."

"Well, I can accept the fact that you would do something like that due to your cutie mark, but I'm still wondering one more thing," Ace wondered aloud, "How did you even end up here?"

"Weren't you listening?!" Twilight snapped. "She already told us she'd rather keep it to herself!"

"She did?" Ace asked, a little dumbfounded. All Twilight did was give him a strict face as she looked away.

"So, Weepy," Twilight asked. "How come you have a cutie mark of a tear droplet, yet another one of your special talents regards memory?"

"Oh, my memory isn't the only thing extra that I was gifted with." Weepy answered, picking her head up a little.

"Then what else can you do?" Strife questioned.

"Well, I don't really know if this is true or not, but I remember my mother telling me something about having the magical abilities of an alicorn alone, regardless that I don't have any wings." Weepy mentioned.

"What?" Rainbow was confused by now. "B-but how is that eve possible?!"  
"Sometimes you shouldn't judge a book by its cover." Weepy responded. "Sometimes a good story could be lurking within the cover itself."

Apparently Twilight was the only one to get the reference as everypony else stood there, just dazing at the walls or floors of the cell.

"In other words," Weepy went on, "the outside of something has nothing to do with the inside. Something can be worn out, rotten, and literally torn to shreds, yet it can contain something within it that makes it magical."

As they grasped the idea, the gathered ponies voiced their approval; except Twilight, she got the reference with the book and story before anypony else did.

"So, what you really are trying to say is that even though you look hideous and like an abomination, you're still powerful?" Strife asked.

"Strife!" Rarity yelled, "She is not hideous! More or less, she's beautiful and charming!"

"N-no, no. It's alright," Weepy sighed, "I've been referred to as worse."

"So, now that we know how powerful you are, why don't we put you to the test?" Thunder exclaimed.

"Thunder!" Twilight chided, "We just met the mare and you want to test her?! How stubborn are you?!"

"Oh, it's quite alright," Weepy said, "I don't like it when others fight. It's too much to take in."

"Well then, there has to be something you can fix or destroy around here," Strife said, looking around for some sort of corpse or boulder, any object really.

"Wait, no. I've got it!" Rainbow Dash announced. Pulling out something from her side, everypony could see it was a bloody piece of blue flesh. Taking a closer look, everypony realized it was Ace's left wing, although it seemed to be a little rotten by now.

Putting it on the ground, Rainbow explained. "We had a little incident with that empire pony somewhere out there, and Ace got his wing chopped off. So I wanna know if it's possible or not to repair a fallen of part of the body."

"Rainbow, are you crazy?!" Twilight snapped at the cyan pegasus. "Not even Princess Celestia could do that! What makes you think a random mare who isn't even an alicorn could?!"

"Cause I trust her, that's why." Rainbow spoke back. Turning back to Weepy, she pushed the wing forward to her with her hoof. "Do you mind giving it a try?"

"I-I guess," Weepy said before looking back at Ace, "Do you want to do this as well?"

"Hey, I'm curious as well," Ace said. Turning to his side until his left side was facing Weepy, he signaled her that he was ready.

Closing her eyes, Weepy began forcing some energy onto her horn slowly. Both her horn and the wing were covered with a bright aura.

Lifting the wing up to Ace's side, Weepy began forcing even more magic into her horn and the wing, trying to force the wing back into place. To everypony's surprise, the wing was attaching itself as veins shot out filling the gap between the wing and Ace's body. It wasn't the cleanest sight, the mares looked away, but it was working.

The process didn't hurt Ace a bit, he watched as Weepy magically attached his wing. Suddenly, Weepy stopped using magic as she opened her eyes again and looked up at where Ace's wing was supposed to be. Blood didn't flow out of the area anymore; Ace looked back at his left wing in great shock. He began flapping it up and down to test if it was working. And surely it did.

All everypony else did was look at Weepy, their jaws dropping. Not even the unicorns who studied medicine for years could pull of a move like that, yet she just had without any preparation.

Soon, Weepy closed her eyes once again without any warning this time and her horn glowed once more. An aura not only surrounded her horn this time, but also the two incisions from the dagger on Ace's right and left sides.

The two cuts began healing themselves as they were magically stitched together. Like the wing, no more blood fell out of them, showing that they were repaired.

Once Weepy was done repairing Ace, she opened her eyes again and stood back with a slight blush on her face. She really didn't like showing off her talents, but this was different. She was saving a life for Celestia's sake!

There was a small silence as everypony looked at the new and improved Ace. That was until Ace spoke up.

"Thank you!" Ace breathed, "Thank you! I really mean it!"

"Oh, it's no big deal," Weepy said, brushing him away with a hoof, "I'm happy to help. Anytime, really."

"But I've never seen such a powerful magic ability from a regular unicorn before," Twilight exclaimed, "How in Equestria are you able to do that?!"

"Like I said before, it's a gift that runs in the family," Weepy explained, "Even though some think of it as a blessing, I think of it as a curse."

"Why would you ever think of a magnificent ability as a curse?" Rarity asked.

"Well, like most things, it makes me vulnerable," Weepy said, "I don't like telling why because then it gets to personal with my past. And I usually don't like to linger in that area of my mind, if you know what I mean."

"Ok, I don't know about you guys, but I'm lost as hell," Strife spoke up, "Can we please just get back on topic and focus on how we're gonna get out of here, please?!"

"Strife does have a point," Thunder added, "We have to hurry up and escape while the empire pony isn't around."

"B-but how?" Twilight asked, "Everything's sealed off. There's not even the slightest gap that we could fit through."

"You must really be stupid," Strife said aloud, looking down at the shovel that he held in his hoofs, the same shovel that he used to awake Ace when he blacked out.

"But still, that's never going to work!" Twilight shot out, "the ground is made out of solid stone. The shovel will break before we can even get an inch deep!"

"Who said anything about digging our way out?" Strife questioned, a grin across his face.

"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Here, just trust me." Strife turned his back to the group. "I got this." Strife made his way over to Weepy, who was on the verge of hiding back in her dark corner by now. Weepy wasn't a big fan of Strife, and if anything, feared him deeply. He reminded her, a lot, of her younger brother who had despised her when she was no more than a filly. It was another part of her past that she tried hard to forget, but wouldn't go away.

Sticking out the metal tip of the shovel used for digging, Strife spoke up. "Can you make this hot with your magic?"

"I-I guess," Weepy said, "There's nothing wrong with trying." With that, Weepy closed her eyes like before and focused her magic into both her horn and the shovel Strife held by the wooden handle. Like before, a bright aura made its way around both objects as Weepy tried to make the shovel hot with her magic.

The rest of the group stood back as they let Weepy do her work.

After a while, Strife could feel it begin to get warmer and warmer. But something was wrong. The handle was getting hotter as the metal tip of the shovel did. All of a sudden, the heat from the handle went from warm to red hot.

"OWW!" Strife yelled, "HOT, HOT!" The handle was burning his hooves, yet he refused to let go. If he did, all the heat from the shovel would go away and they'd have to start all over again.

"Oh, sorry," Weepy apologized. She was told to make the tip of the shovel hot, not the handle itself. She began realigning her magic onto the tip and forced the heat of her magic onto the tip of the shovel. While the handle became cooler, the tip became hotter and hotter. Son, the heat became visible as the shovel tip got redder and redder until it was the perfect color of magma. It was hot enough. Just one touch and it could burn a pony alive.

"Enough!" Strife announced, "It's good enough."

As on cue, Weepy stopped the flow of magic from her horn to the shovel tip as the aura disappeared and she opened her eyes. "Is it good enough?" She asked din her sweetest voice.

"Perfect." He replied. Strife then turned away from the mare and began approaching the cell bars. "Ok, this is about to get dangerous. Everypony stand back!" He announced. Apparently, nopony wanted to be burnt to a crisp by the shovel, so they followed Strife's directions and stood a good yard or two back.

"What are you going to do?" Twilight asked again.

"Heh," Strife chuckled a little. "Just a little experimenting." With that, Strife grasped the cool handle of the shovel with his front hooves tightly and brought it back against his neck, careful not to bring the tip into contact with his own hide. Then, with a great amount of force, Strife brought the burning hot shovel down onto the rusted bars of the cell causing them to chip and break. The shovel slid across each one of the bars one by one until it hit the stone wall all the way at the end of the cell.

Standing back and dropping the shovel onto the ground, Strife and the rest of the group saw a huge line go across the bars, spreading them, some of them even snapped off, allowing large enough holes to escape through.

"B-but how did that even work?!" Rarity asked, shocked at what she just saw.

"Don't you understand?" Strife began. "The cells are too hard for me to break with a simple swing of a regular shovel. All it will do is chip it away slowly. And it wouldn't even make it through one bar without breaking first. But since I applied heat, and a lot of heat, onto the cell bars, it was able to eat away at the steel bars with its heat, allowing it to literally slide through the bars. And since I swung the shovel so quickly, the shovel didn't have enough time to pass through the bar without the bars of the cell bending first, allowing them to break. And that's where we are now, with an escape route in front of us," Strife finished his explanation.

"That's, that's brilliant" Twilight replied, moved by his words. "I never knew you knew physics."

Well, it's more or less a hobby I studied when I was younger." Strife said, blushing a little. "Now, come on. What are you waiting for?" Strife announced before diving though the broken bars of the cell.

Soon, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, and Thunder followed through the gap in the bars one by one. It was a tight fit, yet everypony was more than able to fit through it.

Right before Ace escape the cell, he turned his head around to see that Weepy-Cry had still been in the same spot she still stood, looking up at the dark ceiling, carrying no emption on her face.

"Aren't you coming?" Ace asked, curious and what the mare would say.

"Oh, you can go on." Weepy replied. "I'll just stay here where I belong. This is my fate and I refuse to leave it."

"What are you talking about?" Ace turned his whole body around and was now facing the mare directly. "We could really use a pony like you on our side. I mean with those magical abilities, you should be the new ruler of Equestria!"

Weepy blushed a little. "I'm not meant for the outside world. I've had too many bad experiences with it."

"But think about it this way." Ace had now been an inch away from the mare. "We'll protect you. We'll find a way for everything to go back to what it was before all this destruction. Everything wil be perfect. But we can't get anywhere without you. We need you. Please."

""I can assure you that I won't be of any help." Weepy was looking down at the floor by now. "I'll only cause more trouble."

"What are you taking about?" Ace asked. Everything Ace said, the mare put down in a bad way. It was a fight with no end. "From what I've seen, you've done nothing but help. You're too negative. You have to let go of that feeling and think about the positives in life. Don't think of that gift of yours of a curse. Think of it as a blessing like you said."

"But I just can't go on," Weepy shook her head, "It's just too much."

"Look," Ace said, putting a hoof under the mare's chin and lifting it till she was looking directly into his eyes. "You are beautiful, talented, magnificent; we surely can't get anywhere without you. There are a lot of monsters out there that we'd have a hard time dealing with alone. And to make things even more detailed, I wouldn't be alive anymore if it hadn't been for you repairing all my wounds." Ace looked at this left wing once more, then back to the mare. "I would've died from blood loss or something. Still, the point is, we really need you, as a team. Please, just come with us."

"I-I don't know," Weepy began to cry a little, "It's just too much for me to decide."

"Then come with us." Ace got up on all four hooves and handed a hoof to Weepy for assistance. "It'll all work out in the end, I swear."

Weepy looked down at the ground once more before looking back up at Ace and taking his hoof gladly. All Ace did was smile as he and the mare turned around and headed out of the cell from the gate that Strife made.

Ace had made a new friend.

**Ok, new character and all. Let me start off by saying a few things about the new character, Weepy-Cry. Just to let you know, I found the character from a blog called "Ask Weepy-Cry" (The irony) And it just so happens that I liked the character so much that I decided to insert it into my story. But actually, the character is from a fic called "The Elements Of Discord" somewhere on FIMFiction. I've never got the time to read it yet, but I plan on doing so whenever I have the time to learn more about Weepy. **

** Song requests are valid as always and I'll be taking OC requests sometime soon. (Just not right now. Still packed with OC's) Also, where is Seamus?! Who knows? It may even start a new adventure in the story (wink, wink). I've given out too much info already. I must go! *dashes off***


	39. Chapter 38 Underground to Overground

** SORRY! SORRY FOR LONG UPDATE! No clue where my old Beta-Reader went, so I had to get a new one temporarily. And, this has been a really strong week of typing. My fingers hurt like hell, and my mind is having cramps (If that's possible). Still writing, so that's good. New chapter is here. Read, review, favorite, thumbs up. Do that unless you want more coal for Christmas. (Like you already don't get coal)  
****  
**Chapter 38 – From Underground to Over Ground

"Hey, where were you two?!" Strife snapped at Ace and Weepy, who finally caught up with the rest of the group. The two looked at the rest of the group with confused eyes.

"Well?" Strife began tapping his hoof impatiently on the ground, waiting for some sort of answer.

"Oh, well, we had, um, some sort of, um, problem kinda thingy trying to fit though the cell bars, and um, you know." Ace began rubbing the back hoof his head, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse. Turns out he had been even worse than Applejack when it came to lying.

"I know alright." Strife said while wearing a disappointed face.

"Now, now. Calm down." Twilight explained. "We have bigger priorities than just sitting around here arguing. We have to deal with that messed-up empire pony as well as that no-good Queen Chrysailis."

"Who said anything about us arguing?" Strife talked back to Twilight. "I mean, really!"

Rarity had approached Strife and gave him a slap on his head. "Be civilized." She commanded.

"Guys, focus!" Twilight ordered. "We have to work as a team if we want to get anywhere."

"I agree." Thunder agreed. "I'm in no mood for anymore fighting."

"Then where do we go from here?" Rainbow asked. "We don't know our way out of this abandoned prison and Chrysalis's army is growing as we speak!"

"Well, our only way out is to find that empire pony and force him to tell us the way out."

Twilight answered. "He has to know this place from top to bottom."

"Oh, I'd love to pay that asshole a visit!" Strife announced, cracking his hooves and neck loudly.  
The entire time the group had been controverting on what they had planned to do. Weepy just stood back and hid her face behind her mane. She acted the exact same way as Fluttershy was when she met new ponies as well.

Ace suddenly noticed this and tried to comfort her in the best way possible.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ace asked in his most soothing and comfortable voice, leaning down till he was able to communicate with Weepy.

"N-no!" Weepy said while she was crying. She had been loud enough for Ace to hear, yet quiet enough for everypony else to keep arguing on a plan to get out.

"But, but why?" Ace thought. "What's wrong? What's bugging you?" He asked.

"Everything!" She shot out. "I just don't want all this pressure. I'm not used to it. I, I just want to go back to my corner!" She said.

"Don't think that way!" Ace demanded, becoming a little more serious. "I swore to keep you protected and that's what I'm gonna do. There's nothing in the world that will stop me from doing so."

"But what if you get hurt?" Weepy asked beginning to cry more. "What if you get killed? It'll be my entire fault. I'll be the one to be blamed for. I'll never be able to live with myself if that happens. I already have too many fears and nightmares." She said.

"Why are you thinking that way?" Ace asked, resuming in his soothing voice. "What makes you think I'm going to get hurt?"

All Weepy did as a response was look back at Ace's left wing that had been attached to his body. Ace was curious at what she had been looking at and turned around to find that she had been starring at his wing. Blushing slightly, Ace continues and says, "Oh, that. But still, even if I do get hurt, it'll be my fault and my fault only, not yours. What makes you even think me getting hurt will be because of you?"

"Because you swore you'd protect me." Weepy recalled. "The only reason I left that cell to come follow you guys was because you told me I'd be protected by you. But now that I think about it, no matter what, something bad will end up for me. I should've just stayed back in my corner before you showed up." She said.

"Oh, what's the point." Ace said in his head. "Whatever I tell this chick, she always turns it around in a bad way. Now I understand why her cutie mark is a teardrop!"

"Just trust me..." Ace grabbed Weepy's hooves. He then says, "Trust us. We'll make it though as a team. If we watch each other's necks, nothing can possible go wrong."

"Well, I guess it may work out." Weepy said, looking in the other direction, avoiding eye contact from Ace. "But I don't think you should expect much from me.

"Expect much from you?" Ace began. "Why wouldn't I after that amazing performance you put on back there."

"What performance?" Weepy asked, looking at Ace, yet still avoiding eye contact.

"That one where you healed me perfectly and attached my wing on again. You know." Ace explained. "And because of your powerful healing powers, you'd make an outstanding pony to the team."

"Still, I don't know if I'll ever be able to do a spell like that again." Weepy mentioned, pulling her hooves away from Ace. "It takes a lot of magic to perform. You wouldn't understand with you being a pegasus and all. No offense."

"None taken." Ace replied. "While you unicorns have your fancy horns to use for magic, us pegasi can soar through the sky with our wings." Ace said, looking back and flapping his wings once more.

Weepy giggles a little and says, "I guess."

Ace had been taken back by now. He had never seen the mare smile even once, yet here he was, with the mare just laughing a little at his comment. It had been a simple laugh. Not a fake one and not too overdone. Just right.

Turning his head back, Ace, along with Weepy, joined back into the conversation that the rest of the group had been trapped in for finding a way out. But it hadn't been the best time to join in.

"Why don't we rip his head out of his silly little spine, soak it in lava and burn it in the fire, put it in an extreme freezer and hang it, then take it down two thousand years later, unfreeze it, kick it into a ball, roll it down a cliff, set it on fire again, throw it down a waterfall, then take a giant shit in its skull!" Strife yelled to the group.

"And I thought Pinkie Pie was random." Rainbow Dash put a hoof in front of her mouth and whispered to Twilight.

"Um, I see we've came up with some productive ideas, I assume." Ace said slightly, not sure if they had been getting anywhere or not.

"With Strife in this group, getting something done is more than just something." Rarity pointed a hoof at Strife while looking away.

"Hey!" Strife snapped. "Who had been the one who broke everypony out of the cell? Oh, yeah right. It was me!"

"Hey, hey. Chill, you guys." Thunder tried his best to calm the group down. "We won't get anything done at this rate if we keep arguing."

"That's what I've been trying to tell everypony for the past few days now!" A furious Ace shot out. "Okay, you know what. Screw it. Screw it all. Burn the world to the ground. Die in the flames of living hell, I don't care. Just find that little bastard that runs this hellhole and get out of here before anything. Okay? Okay let's move." Ace announced, not giving anypony time to answer his question. With that, he trotted out in front of the group down the hallways of the dead prison, in hopes of finding any sort of hint to where the empire pony could be.

The rest of the group followed behind with confused faces. Never had anypony seen Ace like this. He always had been calm, understandable, and a great leader. But here he had been, flipping out at the group.

As Ace lead the group down the hallways once again, Rainbow flew up to Ace as she stayed next to him, suspended in air a few inches above the ground.

"So, Ace." Rainbow Dash began as she flew through the air the same speed as Ace trotted. "What were you and little miss Weepy talking 'bout back there? Anything you wanna share with me?"  
"Umm, I think not." Ace replied, looking around the cells for any clues to where the mysterious pony could've been. "No, noting important. Just a casual conversation."

"Really? Cause it seems you two were talking about something deep." Rainbow confirmed. "I even saw the mare, Weepy, cried a little."

"Were you stalking?!" Ace asked, looking at Rainbow by now, a little furious that she had invaded his privacy.

"No, I mean yes, I mean no, I mean maybe." Rainbow didn't know what to say by now. She wanted to be honest with him and tell him yes, but she also wanted to think of her as more civilized and say no. There had been so many possibilities, yet only one answer.

"Well, what is it?" Ace began to grow impatient. "Yes or no?" He asked.

"Is maybe an option?" Rainbow asked, putting on an innocent face.

"Yes or no?!" Ace repeated himself, looking directly into Rainbow's eyes. His voice had been deep and his tone dark. Rainbow knew he had been serious and wanted the truth, so she gave it to him.

"Yes." Rainbow Dash answered, hanging her head low. "But only because I had nothing better to do with the rest of the group arguing on how to seek revenge on that pony that sliced off your wing and stuff." Rainbow picked her head up while saying that.

"That's all I needed to hear." Ace said before speeding up ahead a little, leaving the confused mare behind him.

"Wait, so are you mad at me or not?" Rainbow yelled to the stallion while flying forward to catch up with him. "I told you the truth. That's good, right?"

"Since when is telling the truth always a good thing?!" Ace avoided making eye contact with the mare like before, just looking at the stone ground below his hooves. "It depends on the action, and stalking isn't a good one!"

"Oh, come on." Rainbow grew tired of this. "I told you the truth. I was honest with you. Now can you spare some respect and trust for me?" Rainbow asked with pleading eyes.  
"I'm sorry, but you committed the crime," Ace mentioned. "And now you're going to have to pay the time."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash had been more than just confused by now. "What do you mean by crime?"

"You know what? It's best if you just sit out for now." Ace looked back to see if everypony else had been following. "I've had enough of you for one day."

Just from hearing that, Rainbow sank to the ground, her wings falling flat. "What did I do?" She thought to herself. "I'm not the cause of the crime. That crybaby is! Well, let's see how Ace reacts when the dirt is on her and not me." Rainbow chuckled a little from the thought of this as she rubbed her hooves together evilly. Apparently, Twilight had been close by and saw the whole thing.

"Umm, Rainbow Dash." She began, addressing her by her full name. "Is everything alright over there? You look kind of…different"

"Oh, what?!" Rainbow suddenly snapped out of it and sprang back into the air, flapping her wings in the progress. "What do you mean? I wasn't doing anything." She said as sweat began rolling down her face as she looked from left to right, trying to get Twilight to go away. The scene had been awkward to the both of them.

"If you say so, I guess." Twilight said as she resumed to walk back with the rest of the group, feeling a little out-of-place after seeing Rainbow Dash in such a weird state.

"Phew, that was close." Rainbow wiped some sweat off her forehead. "I gotta be more careful if I'm gonna pull this off." That said, Rainbow dashed off towards the group in the distance, thinking carefully on what she would do to seek revenge on the innocent, light pink mare.

* * *

The gang had been traveling for a while in what seemed to be a never ending prison. No matter what they did, turns they made, they always ended up in the same place over and over. It had been as if everything had been an allusion of the mind. Something that didn't make sense. Maybe the place had been cursed.

"Ugg, how long have we been traveling for?" A very tired Strife asked. "Somepony shoot me already."

"I'd be more than glad to." Rarity responded.

"Can it, will you?" Thunder ended it. Too many fights and arguments had been going about the group as most of them came from Rarity and Strife. Both had a strong envy for each other, yet Ace knew they'd work well together if the situation had been right.

"I wonder how the other group is doing right now." Twilight thought. "They must be far in by now. If anything, they're probably waiting for us at home, already having defeated that bucket of screws and bolts."

"S-screws and bolts?" Weepy asked, hiding half her face behind her mane as usual and keeping her head low. "W-what do y-you mean by that?"

"Oh, well, how do I explain this?" Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof, thinking of a way to explain to Weepy who Spectrum had been.

"It's this robot pony who we thought was good and helped us out, but went rouge and nearly killed Ace." Strife interrupted. "He also doesn't talk."

"Well THANKS for interrupting!" Twilight snapped at the young, devilish colt.

"Anytime." Strife simply responded.

"Sometime I wonder if the pony has any manners of his own." Rarity whispered to Twilight.  
"Um, hello!" Strife popped his head out. "I heard that!"

"You're doing it again!" Thunder announced. "Seriously! This is getting out of hoof!"

"Oh, I-I'm sorry for asking in the first place." Weepy turned her head to the side, taking the blame as usual.

"Oh, I can't stand to see you like this." Rarity looked at Weepy, who faced the opposite direction. "Isn't she just the most innocent thing?"

"Yeah, if you were comparing her to you." Strife mumbled to himself. Sometimes, he wished Seamus had been around to keep him company. He missed the alicorn. He brought joy into his life like nopony else did. HE felt comfortable around him for some unknown reason.

Suddenly, Strife stopped in place. He began thinking. Was this feeling, gay? He had never had this feeling for another colt or even a filly, yet here he was, turned on by another colt who he only knew for a few days now. It had been a part of his mind that he couldn't understand for now.

"Wait, hold on!" Ace announced, sticking a hoof out in front of everypony else. "I think I saw something."

"What did you see?" A curious Twilight asked, looking out into the distance to look for what Ace told them he noticed.

"I think it was a shadow of something." Ace explained. "By the looks of it, it moved quickly as its shadow was gone in a flash as well."

"Was it a ghost?" Rarity feared, afraid of the creature lurking behind the corner.

"Really?" Strife joked. "Everypony knows ghosts don't have shadows." He said.

"Sweet Celestia, will you two shut up for just a minute?!" Ace turned around and yelled at the two. They had really been getting on his nerves for the past few days, but now they had been pushing it.

"Fine, but I'm timing it." Strife fooled around.

"Calm down, Ace." Twilight began rubbing Ace's shoulder, relieving the stress in it. "We have an enemy to find." With that, Twilight began nearing the corner that the creature with the shadow had been behind. Thunder kept whispering to stop there and turn around, but her curiosity got the best of her as she kept moving forward.

"No, Twilight. Come back. Come back, please. Damn it!" Thunder cursed under his breath.  
By now, Twilight had been right against the corner that the creator had been behind. She began breathing heavier and heavier as her heart began beating faster. Everypony pressured her to go forth. Everypony, but Thunder Ice, who had been begging her by now to come back. But Twilight didn't listen. She wanted to show them all that she had been more than brains. That she also had guts as well.

Slowly peaking the tip of her head around the corner, she moved until her left eye passed the edge of the corner. What she saw on the other end had been the same pony who did the introduction of the musical. The one who had been slightly obese and hairless. Even though this pony didn't have the best appearance, Twilight knew just by the looks of it that he could help them with their escape.

Popping out fully out of the corner, Twilight slowly approached the pony. She went from a few feet to a few inches till she was right in front of the pony. His back rose with every breath he took as it sank after exhaling. Twilight could see he had been looking out a window into the sunset with his back turned towards Twilight. In other words he hadn't even noted Twilight's presence yet.

Everypony else stuck their heads out of the corner as they watched Twilight make her move to get the attention of the pony. She slowly lifted her hoof and had planned to tap the pony on the shoulder to get his attention. Turns out the plan didn't work out very well as Twilight did so, she got the scarring of a lifetime.

The pony quickly turned around and screamed into Twilight's face as she tapped him on the shoulder. Twilight began screaming aloud as the pony screamed into her face. Thunder knew what had been happening, and rushed it to protect Twilight. But Ace wouldn't allow it.

"Hold on." Ace whispered, grabbing Thunder's arm as he dove towards Twilight. "I'd like to see the result of this."

"Are you crazy?!" Thunder yelled at Ace. "Twilight's out there getting the hell scared out of her and you just want to stand back and watch and see what happens."

"Trust me, I might know what will happen." Ace explained to Thunder. "But it'll only work if it's just the two of them."

"What do you mean by just the tow of them?" Thunder asked. "What will happen? Tell me!" He demanded, losing his patience.

Pointing a hoof outwards towards Twilight and the other pony, Ace continued. "Look for yourself."

Turning his head, Thunder did as Ace commanded and turned his head towards Twilight and the other pony. But to his surprise, they hadn't been yelling at each other anymore, rather they both looked out the window while talking to each other. What had been a sudden outburst had turned to a calm conversation so fast. It didn't even make sense.

"W-what's going on?" Thunder asked dumbfounded. "They were screaming in each other's faces just a moment ago?"

"It's called magic." Ace replied, beginning to trot over to Twilight and the other pony along with the rest of the group, excluding Thunder Ice. "You were too caught up in trying to save her that you didn't even observe what had been happening to the two."

"Wait, what?" Thunder asked, deeply confused. Seeing that everypony had already approached Twilight and the other pony, he called out. "Hey, wait up!" He yelled as he galloped over to the rest of the group.

Once approaching them, he headed up to the front of the group where Twilight and the other pony had been awaiting them. He didn't want to intrude, so he listened in on their conversation closely, taking note of every word they spoke.

"Why are you even here anyway? Couldn't you just leave this place if you wanted to?" Twilight asked the pony.

"Sorry, can't. My boss has a document which I signed obligating for me to work here for the next three years." The pony responded, looking back into the sunset.

"Then where is your boss? We can talk some sense into him, I promise." Twilight mentioned, looking at the pony.

"He's away on a business trip." The pony chuckled a little. "Hard to believe somepony from the dead still works. Am I right?" He asked, now looking at Twilight.

"I guess you are." She answered in a cheery voice. "Well, I still have to ask you."  
"Ask away." The pony told her.

"Why aren't you dark and evil like the manager and others?" Twilight questioned. "How come you're not as strict as them?"

"The rest aren't evil or dark." The pony answered. "They're just forced to be that way with him around. A shame such good lives have to go to waste."

"I know what you mean, I think." Twilight thought. Suddenly, she felt a little poking feeling on her shoulder as she turned around to see it had been Thunder Ice.

"Um, can you excuse me for a quick moment?" Twilight asked sheepishly to the pony.

"Be my guest." The pony responded, looking back out the window into the sunset.

"Thanks." Twilight thanked him. Trotting backwards, she and Thunder made their way to the back of the group where the discussion furthered.

"What were the two of you talking about?" Thunder asked the lavender mare.

"Why did you pull me out of there?" Twilight asked the greedy stallion.

Thunder sighed before continuing. "I just wanted to ask a few things. Now, what were the two of you talking about?" He asked again.

"Oh, you know the usual." Twilight replied. "Just a slight introduction."

"Oh, no need to rush, but can you hurry up and ask how to get out of here. We're wasting time by staying down here with Chrysalis up there!" He snapped, pointing a hoof upwards.  
"Okay, fine." Twilight told him. "Whatever happened to taking your time?" She asked herself as she approached the pony near the window once more.

"Hey." She did a little chuckle. "Say, do you know the route we can take from here to get us to Canterlot Castle?"

"Are you kidding me?!" He asked, looking back at Twilight. "It's right up there!" He pointed his head upwards till he had been looking at a trapdoor right above him. Twilight did the same along with the rest of the group that had been listening into the conversation until they saw the trapdoor as well.

"Celestia damn it!" Strife cursed under his breath. "Always the last place we look."

"Take this route upwards and you'll be in the hallway full of valuables that have been sealed off by the most desperate treasure hunters. The craziest would try to make their way in here just to steal a vase or two that ranged from a thousand bits each, but it had been impossible. Nopony was allowed access into the place. Nopony but the humble Celestia and Luna, who rarely visited the place.

"Looks like Rarity's gonna have a hell of a time having fun with this place." Strife whispered to Ace. All Ace did was trot away somewhere else that hadn't been near to Strife. Strife felt alone by now, missing Seamus. His emotions had been kicking in, just like before.  
"But how in Equestria do we reach that trapdoor so high up?" Twilight asked, looking all the way up at the thing.

"Easy." Rainbow said, flapping her wings.

"Simple for you to say. You have wings!" Thunder yelled at her.

"No, what I meant was Ace and I can lift each of you up one by one." Rainbow Dash explained. "It'll be easy breezy."

"W-wait, but I'm n-not a b-big fan of – Woah!" Rarity screamed. Rainbow had picked her up first and was already heading up to the trapdoor.

"Couldn't I just have teleported my way up there?" Rarity asked, frighteded that she had been so high off the ground.

"Oh, thank you, Rarity." Twilight said, overhearing what the marshmallow mare asked. With that, in a quick flash, she leteported up to the floor above her.

"You're welcome, Twilight!" Rarity yelled sarcastically.

Thunder decided to do the same with the teleporting as he was gone in an instant as well.

"Ok, Strife, you're next." Ace announced, diving towards the colt and picking him up.

"Watch where you grab!" He snapped.

"Sorry." Ace apologized.

After placing Strife up above the trapdoor leading into Canterlot Castle, Ace took a head count. There had been Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity, Thunder, and Strife. Seamus had been missing log ago and Weepy…

"Weepy!" Ace yelled, diving back down through the trapdoor. He had forgotten the gentle, pink mare.

Once diving back into the underground cavers, Ace looked around for any signs of Weepy. To his shock, she hadn't been there. Neither had the other pony looking out the window that helped them escape.

Launching back upwards, Ace began telling the group what the thought happened. "Guys, that obese, hairless pony took Weepy!" He screamed. "We have to go find her!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Twilight asked confused all of a sudden. "Weepy's gone?"

"Yeah." Ace confirmed. "She's not down there anymore and neither is the other pony."

"Then, wait." Thunder stopped him. "What do we do?"

"What we do," Ace began. "What we do is go after her." Ace had been planning to go back down into the underground cavern and search for her, but right before doing so, Twilight grabbed him by the hoof.

"Wait! We can't go right now." Twilight yelled at him.

"Why not?" Ace tried to struggle from her grip, but she had been serious about this.

"Because, now it's our time to strike. We've gone this far, and we can't go back. We've wasted enough time already. If anything, Chrysalis's army is the weakest it can get by now. This is our one and only chance, and if we waste any more time, there won't be any more chances. It'll all be over." Twilight explained.

All Ace did was look down at the ground as his wigs fell flat like Rainbow's did a while back.  
"I'm sorry, Ace." Twilight said in a soft voice. "But what happened just happened. There's no time to fix it."

"I, I understand" Ace said, getting back up. "C-come on. Let's go." His voice sounded rotten. It had been so sad and desperate, like the lonely cries of a widower.

The rest of the group followed him as they trotted through the hallways of Canterlot Castle. Ace had been in no mood for saving the day anymore. Not without Weepy. He knew she had been somewhere out there, and finding her hadn't been an option, it had been a mission.

**Damn it, been listening to the same song over and over while writing the entire chapter. Now I know all the lyrics. :D Now, onto further business. Now I know how this story is going to go for now. Right now, I' m going to focus on the group heading towards Queen Chrysalis, and sometime in between, I'll put a chapter on where Weepy is somewhere as well. Then comes the section of the story with the group after Spectrum. Then comes a section with Seams and where he struggled off to. And finally, we wrap up with Shadow and Dusk on the mutant ship thingy. Once all that's done, WE'LL BE FINISHED WITH THE STORY! (1/5th of it, that is) You really thought I was going to end my fic right there? It's only getting good right now. After that, everypony reunites as a group and I have to find a new enemy to put in the fic that tries to rule over Equestria.  
Song requests valid as always but OCs are still invalid for now. Not much besides that, so review!**


	40. Chapter 39 Seeking Love and Loss

** Ok, I know there hasn't been a good fight scene in a while, but not to worry. I won't tell you anything more than to read till the end of the chapter to find out what I have planned for the next chapter. Now, read on ahead. (This entire chapter only took me a day to write and only a few hours, so I hope it's good.)**

Chapter 39 – Seeking Love and Loosing Loss  
"Look at all these valuables!" Rarity yelled out, rushing over to see the beautiful, hoof-crafted sculptures and figures. They all had been priceless and took a great amount of time, effort, and money to produce.  
"Surely you would find interest in something as dull as that," Strife exclaimed.  
"Just calm down, ok?" Twilight intervened. "Let Rarity have her fun for now."  
"Fine, if you say so," Strife said to himself. "Hope she doesn't get an orgasm from all of it."  
"Damn it, Strife!" Thunder snapped, turning around behind him while trotting simultaneously. "How do you even know this stuff?!"  
"I do my research," Strife responded, feeling proud of himself.  
"But that... but you're, uggg!" Thunder yelled.  
"Hey, cool it down back there!" Ace shouted. "It's hard enough to concentrate when we've lost two members of the gang already."  
"Make it four," Rainbow Dash added. "Can't forget Fluttershy and Dusk as well."  
"And we haven't even confronted Chrysalis yet," Ace mumbled to himself.  
"Oh, look at this!" Rarity shouted from a far. "Twilight, come here!"  
"I'm sure it looks magnificent and wonderful!" Twilight called back to her, not even looking at what Rarity wanted to show her.  
"That girl sure does have a love for fashion," Thunder said gently to Twilight.  
"Oh, you don't even know anything yet," Twilight responded. The tow soon began chatting to each other. What started out as a conversation about Rarity and her obsession for all things glamorous soon turned into them talking about their lives as fillies and colts.  
"So, wait. You're Princess Celestia's own student?!" Thunder asked, looking as shocked as ever.  
"Yes," Twilight answered proudly. "Well, was. I was her student." Twilight began to hung her head low.  
"Aww, don't get that way," Thunder wrapped his hoof around Twilight and gave her a gentle nudge. "Princess Celestia is dead, I mean deceased." Thunder tried to word the situation as nicely as possible. "So what? It's an event in time that happened, and there's no way to change it. It's a fate that we're all forced to take. It's the circle of life."  
"Well, I know what you're trying to say, but it's just that the event you spoke of doesn't work well with my heart." Twilight spoke up, lifting her head a little higher. "It's just that I miss her. I miss Princess Celestia. Not in a lovey dovey way, but as a mother and daughter type of way." Lifting her head up even more till it had been right in front of Thunder, she continued. "My mother and father didn't appreciate me as enough as I expected. They worshiped my brother, Shining Armor, more. He had been stronger, braver, smarter, everything. They just thought of me as, well as scum. They ignored me and put me aside and talked to me as if I were trash. But when the day came and I was enrolled in Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, they began kissing up to me. And for what? Just to meet the Princess of Equestria themselves. The ruler who lifted the sun in the daytime and moon in the nighttime." Suddenly, Twilights eyes grew a little as she talked a little differently, in an inspirational tone. "But then, then there was Princess Celestia. She treated me as if I were a princess myself. She cared for me. She watched out for my safety. She was like the mother I never had but always wanted, unlike my own cruel, selfish mother." Soon, Twilights head dropped to the ground like before. "But now, now that she's gone, I feel like a tree without leaves. A flower without pedals. A soul without a heart. She had been everything I wanted in a mother, and yet it all slipped away so soon." Twilight suddenly fell to the floor, crying. Her hoofs in front of her face to prevent the tears from coming out of her eyes. Apparently, the sudden action had been loud enough for everypony, including Rarity who had been far off exploring the room in the distance, to hear. They all looked at Twilight with both eyes of confusion and eyes of sadness. Nopony dared to talk or ask what had been wrong. Nopony, besides Thunder.  
"I know you must feel terrible by now." Thunder began patting Twilights back as she cried. "But like I said before: You can't do anything about it. Not even magic can fix something as severe as this. The only thing you can do now is let it go."  
Suddenly, Twilight took her hooves off her face and suddenly dove towards Thunder and wrapped her front hooves around him as she continued to cry. Thunder had been as shocked as to suddenly jump back, but he soon realized it would make Twilight even sadder. She needed something that would comfort her. Something that would alleviate the pain that she had been dealing with emotionally right now.  
"Shh, shh. It's ok. Everything's going to be alright." Thunder whispered to Twilight as he hugged her back. He began stroking her mane gently as he repeated the same words to her while Twilight cried on his shoulder.  
"No, no it's not!" Twilight chocked out. "She's dead! How can anything be alright?!"  
"Umm, I'm not one to invade personal privacy, but what the hay is going on?" Rainbow asked, staying suspended in air above everypony else.  
"Can you just give us a moment?" Thunder whispered to Rainbow as he looked up.  
There was a moment of silence between everypony as Twilight let out all her mixed emotions inside of her. Her crying began to die down as Thunder kept stoking her mane.  
"Any day now." Strife began to grow impatient. What he got as a response was a bone shattering slap from the back of his head from none other than Rarity herself.  
"Ok, ok. I got the message. I won't disturb them anymore." Strife began rubbing the back of his head as he swore blood had been coming out of it.  
"No, no. It's alright. I think I'm all better now." Twilight exclaimed, wiping the teas out of her eyes with her hoof. "Thank you, Thunder." She thanked him.  
"Thank me? What did I do? This was your fight and your problem and you overcame it by yourself." Thunder mentioned. "So if you should be thanking anypony, it should be yourself." He said, poking Twilight in the chest.  
Twilight giggled a little from hearing this. "Well, it wasn't all from me." She told Thunder.  
"Can we go now?" Strife complained. "I'm getting tired of hearing all of this."  
"Strife does have a point this one time," Ace added. We've wasted enough time already with the, um, the incident."  
"Hey! What do you mean this one time?!" Strife waved his hoofs in the air angrily.  
"Don't push it," Ace gave the colt a stern face before looking back at Twilight and Thunder. "We have to hurry up if we want to get back on track."  
"Got it," Thunder confirmed. Getting back up on all fours, he lent out a hoof to Twilight who accepted it with great pride.  
"Great." Ace announced. "Everypony ready?"  
"Since when aren't we?" Rainbow Dash replied of the group.  
"Wait, we're leaving already?" Rarity asked saddened a little. "Aww, but I didn't even get to see the vase collection yet!"  
"Can it." Strife told the mare. "I've heard enough of your complaining for the next century."  
"Ok, I'll take that as a yes. Let's roll!" Ace announced to the group as he galloped out of the long and wide hallway. At the end had been a light door made out of hollow gold and had diamond encrusted edges. Pushing it gently, careful not to damage it or anything, Ace, and the rest of the group passed through. Although, Rarity had a hard time leaving as she literally had to be pulled out by Rainbow Dash.  
At the back of the group had been Twilight and Thunder as they walked aside each other, only this time they had been closer than usual. It had been a silent walk until Twilight spoke up.  
"Thanks for everything." With that, Twilight moved in and gave Thunder a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush intensely. Twilight giggled a little from this. It hadn't been that this had been Thunder's first kiss, or whatever it had been, but rather that it had been a while that they showed their affection for each other. If Thunder recalled, the last time had been somewhere on the Ark with Twilights horn, which already had recovered tremendously and began working a long time ago again.

* * *

"How long have we been traveling for?" Rainbow complained. "Seems like forever."  
"Keep in mind that this castle is the largest castle ever built in the history of Equestria that's still standing." Ace exclaimed to Rainbow and the others. "Lucky for me, before the crowning ceremony, they gave me tour of the entire facility and all its secrets, even the underground cavern and mine shafts down below. So, finding Queen Chrysalis and shutting down her army should be no problem for me."  
"Yeah, seeing that we've been walking in circles for the past hour really puts my confidence and faith in you." Rainbow mumbled slightly to herself. Apparently Ace heard her and gave her a disappointed look. "What? It's true." She mentioned.  
"Never mind. Just forget it." Ace told her as he looked back in front of himself. He and the rest of the group had been traveling through the hallways of Canterlot Castle. They had been slightly wide, yet long as well, like the Ark. Except the only difference was this place had carpeting over the marble floors as well as a lot of light being provided through the enormous building, allowing it to be easier to see.  
"Let there be light." Strife mumbled to everypony. "Don't know where that's from, but I'm saying it."  
"Damn, this place is endless." Thunder exclaimed. "Feels like the Ark all over again.  
"The Ark? Do you mean the Ark Ark? The Ark in space built to keep the toughest and fiercest prisoners once the underground cavern was closed down?!" Ace blurted out.  
"Yeah." Thunder replied. "Why do you ask?"  
"Oh, no reason in particular." Ace responded, looking forward again as he trotted down the halls. "It's just that I've heard of the place. How its organization and brutality make it impossible to escape from."  
"Don't you mean almost impossible?" Rainbow asked, looking at Ace with a dark smile.  
"Wait, what are you inferring?" Ace suddenly realized it and looked at her and the rest of the group with large eyes. "Are you saying you all escaped from the Ark?!"  
"We were this close to having our necks split." Rarity exaggerated. "But we barely made out out safe and well."  
"B-but how did you get into there in the first place?" Ace kept asking away, hungry for more information about the Ark.  
"Oh, easy." Twilight spoke up, no longer sad. "There was a teleported device at ground level just on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. We used that thing to get into the Ark and we used escape pods to get off. Simple as that." Twilight made it sound easy, even if it didn't have.  
"Wait, but now I have a question for you." Rainbow turned to Ace once more. "You're good with geography and history, correct?"  
"Why do you ask?" Ace asked again.  
"I'll take that as a yes." Rainbow began. "You see, how come they have the underground cavern right below us here and also the Ark as a prison as well? Why did they have two super-jails if they couldn't even fill one up fully? And why in different locations."  
"Oh, silly." Ace laughed a little. "The underground cavern was built before the Ark was. It was used back in medieval times just right after the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies made civilization together. Some of them thought a government run by three types of breeds wasn't suitable and that everything would crumble in the future, so they formed a bio-terrorist group. They trashed buildings, blew up farms and fields, and even murdered innocent citizens. The gang began growing more and more until it had been too much for the guards to handle alone. That's when the underground cavern came into play. It took all the gang members and sealed them off from the outside world, you know, like we were. But after the medieval times, and the gang died down, everypony soon realized that having a prison right under Canterlot Castle hadn't been a good idea. What if there had been a breech in security and the prisoners escaped. Then they would make their way up to the castle and it would have been the first thing they would take over and destroy. After realizing that, Princess Celestia, with the help of her sister Princess Luna, formed together an new type of prison far away from any civilization. The Ark. It not only had been an inescapable prison filled with guards lurking though every single hallway, but also having been in space, there was a very unlucky chance of escaping out alive, having the depths of space everywhere and stuff. But then there's you guys. You five courageous ponies who managed to escape that impenetrable prison. Surely you guys must be as worthy of a god if you were to do such a thing again."  
"Oh, you don't have to say that." Rarity looked away as she began blushing a little which had been extremely visible on her pure white coat.  
"No, no. Don't listen to her." Rainbow Dash told him. "Keep talking."  
"You're pushing it." Ace snapped at the cyan Pegasus.  
Rainbow chuckled a little sheepishly. "Sorry."  
"It's ok." Ace accepted her apology. "So, I think we might be getting close to Chrysalis and her army by now. I think now would be the best time to get everything ready for the final confrontation.  
"Aww, yeah." Strife began cracking his hooves. "I'm gonna break that bitched head open and let her blood spill right out."  
"Just what exactly happened to you?" Rarity asked, a very displeased look on her face.  
"What do you mean, what happened?" Strife had been confused.  
"I mean, were you dropped on your head when you were a foal or something?" Rarity complained.  
"Why would you ever assume something like that of me?!" Strife argued back.  
"Are you serious?! Haven't you noticed yet?" Rarity gave herself a face hoof. "Everything that comes out of your mouth is more than inappropriate. Haven't you got the slightest bit of realization before?"  
"Well, Rarity does have a point." Twilight agreed. "What you say most of the time isn't really the cleanest thing ever."  
"Focus, you guys." Ace announced. "We're getting close. I don't want anypony to be talking when we get there or she'll notice us, got it?"  
"Around how close are we to her by now?" Rarity asked, looking ahead of herself.  
"Oh, not that close." Ace mentioned. "Just um, I don't know, around this corner!" HE whispered to them. "Now be quiet and stay quiet!" With that, Ace popped his head around the corner and looked around at his surroundings.  
It had been an enormous throne room with pillars carved out of the finest of gold hanging against the sides. The roof had been the glass that would be found in church with the murals painted onto them as the sun flew directly in. In the center had been a carpet that rolled forward up a few stairs right towards the throne itself, made completely out of the solidest gold in all of Equestria. It would even make the entrepreneurs faint.  
"Wow. Celestia must've been rich as hell when she built this place." Ace thought to himself.  
In the room, sitting in the throne had been none other than the ungrateful queen of the changelings, Queen Chrysalis. She sat with great poise as she communicated and argued with her subject changelings.  
"What do you mean you lost the girl?!" Queen Chrysalis yelled at the two changelings in front of her. The had been standing up on the carpet as she yelled at them.  
"Weepy." Ace whispered under his breath. He knew she had been talking about the sweet, delicate mare that healed him and his wing with her magic more powerful than an alicorn.  
All the two changelings did as a response was flap their wings. "It must've been their way of communication" Ace thought to himself. Never had he seen a changeling speak before, but that was because they didn't. They only communicated through the sounds and motions of flapping wings.  
"Well then, what are you doing here? Go find her!" Queen Chrysalis demanded. "Just because I'm a beautiful queen doesn't mean I'm nice. I'll chop you into bits and feed you to the alligators if you don't hurry up and find her by midnight!"  
Just like that, the changelings dashed out of the room. Lucky for the rest of the group, the hallway split in two, as the changelings both dove left, while the rest of the group had been pressed against the walls of the hallway to the right.  
"She's not nice, and she surely isn't beautiful." Ace told himself.  
"So, what did you find?" Rainbow Dash had been the first to ask. "Anything interesting?"  
"By intersection, do you mean severe? If so, then yes." Ace informed her.  
"So, does that mean we can go and beat the life outta her?" Rainbow Dash asked with pleading eyes. "'Cause staying out here, hiding against a wall while you observe the enemy isn't really the definition of fun. I want more action and adventure, if you know what I mean."  
"I know, I know." Ace said over again, still watching what Queen Chrysalis had been up to this time. She had been arguing with another changeling, although this one had a chef's hat on. Must've been the cook. "You can have your fun as soon as the right time comes. But for now, we wait."  
"Oh, alright." Rainbow Dash gave in as she went back to her position against the wall.  
Looking closer, Ace could see the queen had been arguing at this changeling by now.  
"Your food makes me want to barf, your plating techniques rethink why I'm even living, your staff is lazy as hell, and that hat makes me want to burn you alive, which I have no problem doing." Queen Chrysalis criticized the chief changeling. Just like the last changeling, this one flapped it's wings as Ace swore he apologized in changeling.  
"Now, leave my sight and think about what you've done." Queen Chrysalis ordered. Following the given directions, the chief pony dashed off like the other two, taking the same direction, not noticing the group of ponies along the other side of the wall.  
"Now that that's taken care of." Queen chrysalis reached over and grabbed a little locket and put it in front of herself with her hooves, not considering that she could've just brought over the item with her green magic.  
"Now what is she doing?" Twilight whispered, still against the wall like ordered.  
"I don't know." Ace responded to her, still looking from around the corner. "But things are just heating up."  
Putting the locket to eye level, Queen Chrysalis 's horn began to lite up as a magical green aura covered her horn as well as the locket itself. Ace hadn't gotten the slightest clue what she had been doing, but he knew this had been his chance. This had been is only opportunity, his distraction that he had been waiting for.  
Turning back to the group, Ace began to explain the plan. "Ok, here's how it's gonna flow. When I give the signal, Rainbow Dash, you dive out there and do a little spin around Chrysalis while she's still distracted and venerable. Then, once you get her confused and dizzy, Thunder, Twilight, and Rarity. You guys go out and use your magic to hold her down. Rarity the arms and legs, Thunder the body, and Twilight the neck and head. Then, we tell her to spill the beans on what she's really planning to do with the rest of Equestria and her army of changelings. If she refuses to tell or any of her changelings try and save the day, I give the signal, and Strife here gets the honor of snapping her neck. And down ges the Queen."  
"And you really think that will work?" Twilight looked at him as if he had done something wrong.  
"Do you have a better idea?" Ace began grinning. "No? Well then, I guess we go with my idea."  
Popping his head back out to see if Queen Chrysalis still had been distracted, Ace stuck his hoof out, signaling for Rainbow Dash to go and do her part.  
"Aww, yeah!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Time to make my move!" With that, Rainbow dashed off around the corner, a light rainbow trail following behind her tail as usual.  
Right as she rounded the corner and headed directly for Queen Chrysalis and the throne, picking up more speed as she went, Chrysalis had detected her presence and stopped focusing on the locket and forced her magic upon Rainbow Dash, suspending her in mid-air. The light green aura surrounded her as she had been stuck and unable to move at all.  
"Did you really think you can sneak up on me at this time?" Queen Chrysalis looked at Rainbow Dash. "At this time when I possess the throne?"  
"Oh, give it up!" Rainbow yelled at her, trying to struggle out of the trap around her. "Once I'm outta this, I'll blow you to bits!" She threatened her.  
"Oh, that's so funny I forgot to laugh." Chrysalis mentioned. "But seriously, this surprise part isn't fair. Why don't we invite your friends in on it?" Suddenly, Queen Chrysalis activated her dark side as she called out some more orders. "Guards, bring in the prisoners!"  
As on cue, tens of hundreds of changeling suddenly surrounded Ace and the rest of the group as they had no choice but to surrender. The changelings began ordering them to enter the room as they did so, not wanting to be hurt or anything.  
As Ace and the rest of the group trotted on it, heads down, the changeling shad been surrounding them from left to right, in front and behing. Even some had been flying above hand.  
"So much for a working plan." Twilight mumbled to Ace.  
"Ah, so good to see you all again," Queen Chrysalis began, flying off her throne and onto the luxurious carpet in front of her. "It's been a while since we last meant, hasn't it."  
"B-but how did you even find us?" Thunder had been the first of the group to ask.  
"Oh, how silly are you to think ou even have the chance of successfully sneaking up on me." She told them. "I mean, really. I have guards around every corner of the place. They were watching you the entire time. So it looks like I was the one snaking up on you."  
"Doesn't matter what position we're in right now." Strife explained. "I'll still be the one to whop your ass!"  
"Well, who do we have here?" Queen Chrysailis asked, observing Strife from a far. "I've never seen you before. Hm, I can see you've got a lot of self-confidence in yourself kid. I like that."  
"Wait, what?" Strife asked, confused. He didn't know if he had been complimented by her, or just plain insulted.  
"Now, onto bigger priorities." Queen Chrysailis turned away and faced the other way. "Guards, all of you, leave my presence." She pulled her arm and hoof outward, signaling for them to leave.  
As commanded, the changeling all left at once, closing the door behind them. All that had been left were Ace and his group, as well as Queen Chrysalis by herself.  
Marching slowly back to her throne, the aura around Queen Chrysalis's horn soon disappeared as the one around Rainbow did too, dropping her to the ground and landing on herself.  
"Hey, what'd you do that for?!" Rainbow snapped at her, rubbing her hoof on her head.  
"You'll see." Queen Chrysalis turned back around till she was facing everypony else and took a seat back on her throne. "Things are about to get interesting."  
"What do you mean by interesting?" Twilight had asked. "And why did you order all your changeling guards to leave all of a sudden?"  
All Queen Chrysalis did was grin evilly as she spoke back up again. "Just be patient my dear. For everything will soon make sense clearly."  
Suddenly, Queen Chrysalis's horn began to glow again as the ends of the room lit on with the sparks of green flames. The entire edge and borers of the throne room had been covered with the eternal flames.  
"What the hell?!" Strife shot out. "What are you doing?!"  
"Oh, you know. Just setting the border line so there won't be any interruptions or escaping." Queen Chrysalis mentioned.  
"Wait, what's going on here?" Twilight asked, scared as to what the answer may be.  
Queen Chrysalis's horn stopped glowing as the flames across the room kept burning. Focusing back on the group of ponies, she resumed the conversation. "Just a simple fight is what I'm looking at here. It's really simple on how it works. If you win, you can have my throne and my kingdom and banish me out like last time. But if you lose the fight, you lose your life."  
"W-what?!" A completely shocked Rarity stepped back.  
"Just a simple fight." Queen Chrysalis confirmed. "Just all six of you against me. You have the advantage in population and teamwork, and I have the advantage in magic and flying. Now that the rules are established, shall we begin?"  
"Hell yeah!" Strife called out. "I'll do this till the end! I won't hold back!."  
Ace stuck a hoof out in front of Strife to calm him down. Once he and the rest of the group settled down, Ace spoke up.  
"Alright, we'll take on your challenge." Ace announced.  
"Perfect." Queen Chrysalis had been adjusting her wings. Looking back at the ponies with one more glance, she spoke once more.  
"I want all your love, even if it kills me. Let the games begin, ad let the best pony win!"

** What do we have here? A battle for the next chapter, I assume. And this will be the first battle that I wil;l actually write, considering the last one had been written by a fan of the fic. I don't really know what I'll have planned out for it, but hey, what's imagination for anyways? **

** Still accepting song requests (aren't getting many lately) ut still n OCs for now. I also want to take the liberty and mention that Ace and Weepy are not going to be a couple in future chapters. It was just an experiment I wanted to see would work out. SO for, it isn't going so well, and I might have to change my approach for that. Also, I don't really know what happened at the beginning of the chapter with Twilight breaking into tears and stuff, but I needed to have something fill in the emoy gap of the beginning of a chapter. For those of you out there who write your own fics, you must also know how painful it is to write the beginning of a chapter as well. Take A LOT of effort, doesn't it. Well, my back is pretty much killing me, so I think I'll go take a nap. The time's around midnight and it's completely dark outside. I think a Creeper is outside my door, trying to compliment my house. I'm out of arrows and diamond swords, so I think I'll just call it a night and get some sleep. After all, my bed's looking comfortable right now. (not in a sexual way). So, I guess I'm going. Review, like, favorite, all that shit! Stay tuned as always for the next chapter with the Queen Chrysalis surprise, and even a little something shocking at the end.**


	41. Chapter 40 - Canterlot Castle Combat

**Where the hell have I been?! I give all of my viewers permission to spam the comments saying how much of an idiot I am for not posting a new chapter for around a year. Then again, this chapter was written a lengthy five months ago. Still, this habit of me slacking off will continue no more. Starting now, I will be posting a new chapter to this fanfic every week to two weeks (depending on how well I am with time management). Also, as a side note, I would like to explain that I originally had a song planned for this chapter, yet I was too lazy to find a place to insert it into. Jouir~**

Chapter 40 - Canterlot Castle Combat

The last and final rays of the setting sun gave off to the corrupted city of Canterlot. Peaks of light every so and so broke through the crystal windows of the throne room located in Canterlot Castle. The murals framed on the windows that had been placed even before Princess Celestia had been yet to be born had even been damaged.

Surrounding the room had been the burning fire that had been placed by Chrysalis before. Rather than it being a pure red with the base of it having be yellow, the fire itself had been a sick green. Though, this made sense due to whatever Queen Chrysalis produced had been green. When it came to her everlasting fire even to her unstoppable magic, it had all been green. it was her color and view of life. Sickness.

Queen Chrysalis just stood there on the steps right in front of her throne, hooves on the carpet, observing the enemies from a far. In front of her stood Rainbow Dash above the rest of the group, suspended in air with her wings as usual, positioned as if she was ready to driven in and pounce onto Chrysalis herself. But they both knew that it wouldn't end well due to Chrysalis having the upper hoof in magic.

On he ground below Rainbow had been Ace standing in front of the group, taking his job as leader seriously. Strife had also been at the front, ready to close in on Chrysalis at any given moment, but Ace refused for him to go alone by himself.

Twilight stood her ground firmly right behind Ace as Thunder stood next to the lavender mare as always. Rarity hid in the back of the group, not wanting to participate in the rough-housing that would soon take place in the only part of Canterlot that had yet to be destroyed. Seamus had gone missing during the entry of the Underground Cavern and Weepy had already wandered off just moments ago somewhere around the castle. For a group that had been so successful in the begging had been experiencing its downfall by now.

"Well then." Queen Chrysalis spoke up, literally grabbing everypony's attention in the room. "The boundaries are set, everypony is in their starting positions. What else is there to wait for?" Queen Chrysalis turned her head till she had been facing one of the murals on the right side of the throne room. the glass represented the image of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both in perfect harmony as they rose the sun and moon together.

"Oh, such a shame of how the simpler times not so long ago have all been wasted." With that, Queen Chrysalis walked over to the glass mural that reached over to the solid floor and smashed it with her front hoof. urging around until she had been facing the gang once again, she continued. "Then again, one can not mingle with the past. What can I say, really?"

An extremely frustrated Twilight soon shot back. "Well what right do you have to kill Princess Celestia and take all that belongs to her?! It isn't the least bit fair!" Never had Twilight gotten any madder than she had been at that very moment. Princess Celestia had been her all in a motherly fashion yet here she was in front of somepony who took her and her belongings for granite.

Queen Chrysalis gave out a little laugh. "Oh, my dear Twilight. You look at the situation at a different angle than it really is. I never said anything about killing Princess Celestia. The deed had already been done. I just managed to step in at the correct time and takeover what business she'd left uncompleted." Queen Chrysalis launched herself just the peak above the ground as her wings buzzed in the stiff air surrounding the throne room. Approaching Twilight, Chrysalis's voice came down to a whisper.

"And even if I was the one to murder her, it doesn't matter. Nothing would've mattered. The only thing that would," Queen Chrysalis leaned in and whispered gently into Twilight's ear. "She's dead."

Just then, there was a loud snapping sound that came out of nowhere as Twilight literally tackled Chrysalis against the nearest wall, inches away from the throne itself.

"How could you?!" Twilight screamed into the face of the catastrophic demon. "How could you think, more or less, DO such a thing that you'd have no intention of looking back upon?!" Twilight had been standing on her hind legs as she used her front hooves to keep a strong, firm grip on Chrysalis. her eyes carried enough rage as the pupils looked as if they had been lit on fire. All Chrysalis did was remain pinned against the wall, not even trying to struggle out or anything, an evil grin registered across her face as she looked back at the fired-up Twilight. the remainder of the group, including Thunder Ice, stood back and observed the scene before them, not wanting to invade or anything.

there was a short moment of silence before Queen Chrysalis broke the silence. A light green aura surrounded her uneven horn as she began using some of her magic to teleport out of Twilights reach.

Teleporting back onto the throne, Queen Chrysalis spoke up. "Well, we've had far too many interruptions. Continue on with them and one of us just might end up dying of hunger or thirst. Lucky for me, I've had enough love for one day. With you guys here, there's enough hatred to go around."

More silence spread as Twilight to back onto her four hooves again and turned to Chrysalis who had been sitting on the throne to Twilight's right. Everypony else in the group just looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what to say or do next. Rarity and Thunder, Strife and Rainbow.

"Then if you don't want anymore interruptions, then what do you want?" Ace spoke up, gulping a little from his nervousness.

"What do I want?" Queen Chrysalis repeated, looking up at the curved ceiling, placing a hoof onto her chest while sitting up. " Nothing much. Just a little excitement, if you know what I mean."

"Nope, no clue." Strife spat out rudely.

Giving Strife a strict glance, Ace turned back to Queen Chrysalis and continued. "Is it too much to ask to be any more descriptive?"

Letting out a sigh of both boredom and tiredness, Chrysalis answered. "What I mean is all this." Queen Chrysalis spread out her hooves, showing out the entire room with the everlasting fire surrounding the room cracking and popping every now and then. "The reason I didn't kill you before when I knew you were all coming."

It soon hit Ace as he realized what she had been referring to. "The battle." He whispered gently. he knew defeating an alicorn had been nearly impossible, and defeating a mutant alicorn had been no easier, especially if they had been less than half the army they used to be.

"But why do you wish to fight with us?" Ace spoke up once more. "What is in it for you if you do so."

"Simple enough." Queen Chrysalis hovered out of her throne a little as she dug her hooves into the rich carpet in front of her. "You want answers, I want love. Seems we won't get anywhere if you keep stalling like this." Her eyes began to wander off again.

"So you promise that if we make you surrender, that you'll pardon the throne and leave Equestrian forever?" Twilight confirmed, Backing away slowly back into the group. "That ship seems easy to sail."

"Ah, ah, ah. You're forgetting my end of bargain as well." Queen Chrysalis looked back at the lavender mare. "I can accept the consequences towards me and my army if I were to loose, but aren't you forgetting the outcome of what will happen to all of you once I reign victorious?" She pointed out.

The group encountered another moment of silence before Strife spoke up.

"Isn't it where if we lose, you kill us like everypony else who wants to fight us?" Strife explained.

"That, my dear subject, isn't what I had intended on proceeding on with." Saying this, Queen Chrysalis quickly turned around until her back had been facing the rest of the group. looking up, she continued. "You see, ever since the destruction of Canterlot just a few days ago, everypony died along with the chaos and disharmony. ponies were toppled over by towers and structures. Others were set alight. Some even frozen to death. Those who survived faced the consequences of both hunger and thirst."

"Your point?" Strife asked ruddily in a low and bored toe as if he hadn't been paying attending the entire time. rarity had to come up as always and smack a hoof onto his neck, which always resulted in an "OW" by none other than Strife.

"As I was saying," Queen Chrysalis had taken a quick glance back to see what had been going on, then turned back to the ceiling above her. It had been a stainless glass clover with a mural of the elements of harmony spread across, yet this cover had more than six elements. It had what seemed to be around thirty elements, all different colors and shapes. They had been arranged on the glass in an even circle with a thin yellow outline around the elements. In the middle had been what seemed to be a combination of two elements swirled together. While one had been a light blue color, the other had been dark grey and showed no sort of complexion or anything. It had been unidentified.

"With a great majority of the population dead, I have no subjects in which to produce love that I feed on. You know how it goes, don't you?" Queen Chrysalis turned her head down from the mural with the elements from up above and turned to look at the group in front of her.

"Any more details?" Strife had been leaning on the edge by now. "'Cause I'm as lost as hell right now!"

"My point," Queen Chrysalis began again. "Simply, I see before me three mares and three stallions." She pointed out, sticking a hoof out that she had been referring t the entire gang. sure enough, she couldn't be any more corrector.

As everypony else looked at each other, they soon realized as well what Chrysalis had been going at.

"Wait, you don't mean?!" Twilight had been the first to call out, some fear in her voice.

"That's correct." Queen Chrysalis looked at Twilight in a ninety degree angle. "One mare and stallion could produce enough love to feed a few of my changelings every now and then. But three times the power and three times the love, my army would grow substantially, not to mention I would grow with them as well."

"So let me get this straight." Strife mentioned. "If we win, then you leave Canterlot, and more importantly, Equestrian with your army forever. But if we lose, we're taken in as your prisoners and are forced to do it with one another as you feed off our love?!" Strife had been as confused as ever by now. "Ok, am I the only one who think that idea is fucked up?!" Strife snapped.

"Dunno bout you, but I get dibs on Twi." Thunder whipped to Ace, careful none of the other mares would hear him.

"Think what you want, you ungrateful fool, but that's just how the skyscraper stands." Queen Chrysalis announced to them. "Still, who am I to force anything more on all of you. The choice is yours and the consequences are deadly. You can either have freedom or captivity. " Looking directly down on Ace, Queen Chrysalis asked once more. " What will it be?"

Everypony else had been looking at Ace by now. His decision mattered the most by now as he had the option to go on with the fight and are the risk of victory or defeat. But he. Soon realized that he and the rest of the group came all this way to find Queen Chrysalis, and turning back now would be more than a fatal move. Judging from that, Ace knew what his answer had been.

"I accept!" Ace soon announced back, mentioning it loud enough for not just Queen Chrysalis to hear, but for everypony else to hear as well, signaling for them to get ready for battle.

"Just what I wanted to hear." Queen Chrysalis began focusing her magic n the surrounding fire again as she made it even more intense. The flames grew twice its average size and the heat given off from them doubled. Everypony had to squish together just not to get burnt.

Turning back to the group which had been in formation, yet squished together, Chrysalis continued. "Let the games...begin."

As on cue, Strife had been the first to dive towards Queen Chrysalis with bare hooves, yet Chrysalis had been more than ready to dodge that attack. using her magic and quick reflexes, she quickly teleported behind Strife as he still few in the air. Strife soon ended up crashing face first in the royal throne, close enough to damaging one of the most important structures in Equestria.

"One down, five to go." Queen Chrysalis announced calmly, not fearing anything that lied ahead.

"I'll never let you win!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she flew directly towards Queen Chrysalis and began circling her at lightning speed, a thin rainbow trail following close behind her. She wanted to try and at least confuse or even paralyze the enemy, but Chrysalis had already thought of a counter attack.

Just as ain't ow thought her plan was working as Queen chrysalis had been slowing down, things turned upside down. In the center, Chrysalis had been charging a large amount of energy in her horn, and just as Rainbow began to slow down circling her, Chrysalis took all the magic in her horn and burst it out into a clear green force-field. This resulted in Rainbow being thrown out of her balance and more importantly, thrown away from Queen Chrysalis.

Rainbow Dash ended up crashing to the nearest wall against the left side as she slowly began falling to the floor. Ace then knew what would happen next. If she continued to fall, she'd be burnt by the fires beneath her. Ace knew he would have to act fast before anything crucial would occur.

"Here, quickly stall Chrysalis for me. I need to finish up some extra business." Ace whispered to Thunder before dashing off to the unconscious Rainbow Dash.

"You can count on me." Thunder replied. Turning to Twilight, he continued. "Wanna help me take down this overpowered freak?" Thunder asked with a grin on his face.

"I'd be more than pleased to take this heartless soul down." Twilight replied with a look of anger on her face. f it had been anypony who pissed her off more than anything, it had been her.

"Good. Now just follow my lead" With that, Thunder dashed off towards Queen Chrysalis, Twilight following close behind to his right.

Over in the other corner, Ace had only been a few feet from Rainbow, yet she had been falling fast, almost as if she was trying to get burnt alive. Jumping at just the right moment and unfolding his wings into the air, Ace managed to get to eye level with Rainbow as he scooped her up in his hooves just inches before she reached. The deadly fire which, from a close, looked more like toxics.

Bringing her down to the ground, Ace folded back his wings up again. He hadn't really been a huge fan of flying. Ace then put the unconscious Rainbow Dash right beside Rarity who had been in the back of the group the entire time.

"Keep guard of her." Ace whispered to Rarity before looking back down at Rainbow quickly on the floor and splitting off to the remainder of the battle. Seems he hadn't missed much as it was both Thunders and Twilight turn to attack.

Just as Thunder and Twilight approached Queen Chrysalis, who had been floating a few meters off the ground with a clear green force-file surrounding her entire body, she noticed the twos presence.

"Do you fools ever listen?" Queen Chrysalis said aloud to herself, shrugging a little.

"Heh" Thunder chuckled a little before looking at Twilight. "You ready?"

"Never been better." Twilight responded, looking back at him with a smile on her face. Thunder smiled along as well.

"I'm waiting." Queen Chrysalis announced, trimming her hooves as if she had nothing else to do.

Just from that, both Thunder and Twilight launched themselves into the air, regardless if they were pegasi or not. But inseam of aiming directly at her like everypony else did, they each aimed for one of the two walls, Thunder on the left and Twilight on the right wall.

Right as the two landed on each side of the wall, they began galloping up it. Gravity didn't have an effect on either as they dove up the walls.

"What the?!" Ace was left speechless as he saw this. never in his life had he seen a unicorn defy gravity. Not unless it was a spell they fasted on each other to change the direction of gravity for them.

Right as both Thunder and Twilight had been at the same height level as Queen Chrysalis, they both aimed themselves perfectly. One slip up could cost them their lives.

"Now!" Thunder commanded while Chrysalis had her guard down and her force-field had been weak. At the same time, both Thunder and Twilight jumped from the walls they were on, regardless on how high up they were and how brutal the fall beneath them would be, and dove directly at Chrysalis, who didn't know which way to block from.

just as Thunder thought his plan would work and that he had been inches away from Queen Chrysalis, she quickly teleported out of the current area she had been in, vanishing in mid-air.

The result of his had been Thunder and Twilight crashing into each other evenly. Head to head, stomach to stomach, even their legs matched up.

Just as the two crashed into each other, they both fell to the ground instantly, sore and limp, just a few inches away from each other. The fight only raged on for five minutes and already Strife, Rainbow, and Twilight and Thunder we knocked out. All that remained were Rarity and Ace. While Ace kept calm, Rarity had been hyperventilating by now.

"W-where did she go?!" Rarity managed to ask in between breaths. Queen Chrysalis had been gone. It was as if she vanished in mid air.

"I don't know." Ace responded, looking around for anymore traces of where she vanished off to. "But I can assure you we'll be safe if we watch each other backs." Ace turned back to Rarity. "She moves fast when she disappears. For all we know, she could be..." Ace suddenly stopped and gasped. "Rarity, behind you!" Ace yelled, pointing a hoof behind her.

"What?! What is it?!" Rarity had been scared as ever. Behind her had been one other than Queen Chrysalis herself, but she had been unprotected. No longer did she haul the force-field around herself.

Leaning down, Queen Chrysalis forced her energy into her magic again as her uneven horn was soon surrounded by a light green aura. Her horn soon touched the tip of Rarity's neck as she suddenly fainted to the ground. She had castes a strong sleep spell on her, preventing her from waking up for the next few hours.

"Rarity!" Ace yelled, watching yet another of his friends fall to the floor in disgrace.

Rarity fell to the floor besides the unconscious Rainbow Dash in front of her. All that remained now was Ace and Queen Chrysalis.

"Why?" Ace asked in possibly the most darkest tone he could possibly do. His body was leaned forward as he looked at the ground at the two passed out mares, not to mention Thunder, Twilight, and Strife behind him. His mane covered his eyes as he barely looked up at Queen Chrysalis who had only been a few feet away from him. "Why?! What is your reasoning for all this?!"

"Calm down, you energetic stallion." Queen Chrysalis looked at him again from an angle as she brushed a strand of her green mane away from her face. "Before you blow your fuse, there's something I'm obligated to show you."

"Show me what?" Ace got up and looked at the queen of the changelings. "Haven't you shown me enough terror and destruction already?"

"I'll let you find out for yourself." Then again, Queen Chrysalis's horn began to glow as a large green bubble surrounded both Chrysalis and Ace. Suddenly, the two vanished, leaving behind the other five unconscious ponies to be taken care of later.

Ace could feel a small pinching inside his heart as he awoke in a flash, breathing heavily. He soon realized that he hadn't been on the ground or anything, rather floating up in what seemed to be the depths of space, with Queen Chrysalis right beside him.

"Where, where are we?" Ace managed to spit out. While above him had been the darkness of space itself with all the stars piercing against the skyline, below him had been a bunch of videos that played. t had been as if he had been taking a tour inside his own memory.

"Does this place not seem familiar to you?" Queen Chrysalis dove down below into the assortment of videos as she passed through them like wind. " Follow me." She whispered back.

Not knowing what else to do, Ace dove down as well. Just like her, he had no trouble passing through his own thoughts and memories.

Following Queen Chrysalis deep into his own mind, Ace soon came across a memory of his family. His own mother and father. It had been ages since they saw each other. Just the thought of it made Ace feel rotten, and they were probably dead by now after the changeling invasion as Chrysalis predicted. Taking one more glance at it, Ace moved on, not even looking back.

After following Queen Chrysalis deeper into his own memory, they finally came across what she planned on showing him.

"Why'd we stop?" Ace's curiosity asked.

"This." Queen Chrysalis pointed a hoof to the one memory panel all alone. While the rest had been all squished together in the order they occurred, this one had been a long way out, not connected to the rest. but that hadn't been its only difference. It also didn't have a golden frame around it. All the other memories had frames around the memories, but this one had been bare.

"Why doesn't this one look like the rest of my memories?" Ace faced Queen Chrysalis. "And why have I never seen this memory before?"

"Because it is the memory of the future." Queen Chrysalis explained. "You see, in order for a memory to get confirmed, there has to be memory options. Each option is a prediction on what will happen in the future. Usually it can range from just two memory options to a hundred. But an option isn't just chosen randomly. It is chosen by fate. And the decided memory option is then framed and stored in your memory timeline that we previously passed through forever while the declined ones are forgotten. So, you can pretty much define it as your memory options to be your future. What is chosen is what is experienced."

"But there's only one memory option!" Ace mentioned.

"I see." Queen Chrysalis confirmed. "But take a closer look."

Doing as said, Ace began watching the memory, yet he didn't believe one thing on what he saw.

The memory option showed Ace himself, yet very differently. he had on a blood red capes round his neck streaming down his back as he sat on his own solid gold throne besides Queen Chrysalis. in his right hoof had been a golden wine glass encrusted with the finest of rubies and in it was believed to be the blood of ponies. And atop his head was what shocked him the most. A crystal clear diamond crown showing his worthiness. And what should've been a happy s,ole on his face had been replaced with an evil grin that looked as if it could stare into the very soul of somepony.

"So this s my fate?!" Ace had been both confused and terrified. "I'm going to be the next ruler of Equestria?!"

"More or less, just Canterlot for now." Queen Chrysalis added. "You'll be ruling aside me as we help increase our army's strength and population. And one day, one day we'll have enough power to takeover all of Equestria!" Queen Chrysalis's voice echoed inside of Aces mind.

All of a sudden, Queen Chrysalis's horn began to glow again as they were teleported back to the throne room they were in before, with everypony else still unconscious and the fires surrounding them still burning. he had been at the to of the steps near the throne while Ace stood at the bottom, looking up at her.

"The choice is yours." Queen Chrysalis continued, turning away from Ace. "You can either rule aside me and gain everything you so desire, or stay in captivity for the rest of your life and produce love for me and my subjects. No matter what, I get something and my army increases in the end." Turning back to face Ace, she asked once more. "So, what'll it be?"

Ace knew that the answer to this question would matter more than ever. Would he fight for the freedom of his friends and risk losing everything, or turn his back on them and become what he always dreamed of being and watch his own friends suffer the pain he was once forced to go through.

Finally, Ace came up with his answer as he turned his neck to face Rainbow who had still been unconscious on the floor.

"A friend never turns his back on others." Ace told Queen Chrysalis confidently. "Even if it means risking your own life."

"I see." Queen Chrysalis understood. "Looks like I'm going to have to take your friends in as prisoners as well as you then." Suddenly, Queen Chrysalis stomped her front hoof on the ground. "Guards!" She called out. "Take them to the dungeon!"

As on cue, hundreds of changeling guards stormed thought the entrance and began taking the five unconscious ponies into captivity. Strife, Thunder, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow one by one were lifted up and taken out of the throne room. All that was left was Ace as he struggled to get free from the changelings that tried to pin him down.

"Wait!" Ace yelled out loud enough for Queen Chrysalis to hear. "But I thought you said this would be a fair fight with no help or support from others?!"

"Oh, did you think I actually meant that?" Queen Chrysalis asked playfully. "When was the last time I ever kept a promise?" With that, Queen Chrysalis gave out a loud and evil laughter that echoed thought the room as Ace watched helplessly as more changeling piled on top of him, trying to keep him down. Ace knew he lost and it had all been over, or so he thought.

All of a sudden, right then and there, Ace, as well as Queen Chrysalis heard the crashing sound of a window break as Ace struggled to get a glimpse of what had been going on. Turning his head towards the impact of the sound, Ace soon noticed the long window to the left of Queen Chrysalis has been shattered and a dull pink blur dashed through, aiming towards her.

"What in Equestria?!" Queen Chrysalis yelled out just as the blur was only a few inches away. It had been hard for Ce to see what had been going on with all the changeling in the room evacuating from left to right, but once they all got out of his way, Ace managed to see clearly what had been going on.

Ice began freezing Queen Chrysalis from her hooves up just as Discord had been turned to stone. She tired with every bit of her might to break free, but the ice had been too strong, not to mention cold as well. As the frigid ice made its way up her uneven neck, she looked back at who had done this to her. Just as she did so, the ice made its was over her head, freezing the corpse of the changeling queen once and for all.

Ace stared at the frozen corpse of the once alive mad mare before turning his head towards the pony who was able to catch her off guard and freeze her shut. To his surprise, that particular pony had been so familiar to Ace, with her dull pink body and dark pink mane, not to mention all the scars across her body. Then it soon hit him who she had been.

"Weepy!" Ace yelled aloud, excited t see the delicate mare, or so he thought, once again. Weepy had her back turned towards the frozen Queen Chrysalis as well as Ace as she stood with her left hind leg on the ground and her right leg. Her right arm had been against her side while in her left hoof had been on the ground as well.

Trotting over to the mare, Ace repeated her name once more, yet more gently and not as loud, placing a hoof on the shoulder of the mare."Weepy, are you alright?"

Just as Ace laid his hoof onto Weepy's shoulder, the pink mare instantly jumped and hit the floor with a thump. She managed to land on her back for a soft landing, facing Ace who had been directly above him. Glancing at him, Weepy spoke up in her usual, soft and sweet voice.

"O-oh, it's just you." She exclaimed in one of the most sweetest voices ever. She began looking down at the floor beside herself nervously, not wanting to make eye-contact with the stallion. The position she had been in hand't been the most comfortable to be in for herself.

"Heh," Ace chuckled a little, relieved that at least one of his friends had still been awake and alive. "Need a hoof?" Ace asked, sticking out a hoof to the mare, a slight grin of confidence on his face.

"Sure, thanks" Weepy accepted the help on getting up gratefully, a slight smile on her face as well. She had been opening up to the comforting stallion a lot lately, and had'd been fearing or denying him any longer.

Once Weepy got up on all fours, Ace stood back and looked at the mare that she just met a few days ago. She hadn't been avoiding eye contact with him any longer as she looked back at him for once.

"Now that that's settled, I've been wondering where in the wide wide world of Equestria did you come from?!" Ace shouted at her. "And more importantly, how were you able to freeze her?!"

Weepy hadn't been a fan when it came to questions and answers, but she knew she couldn't just leave Ace hanging. "It's a long story. I'd rather not tell." Had been Weepy-Cry's only response as she looked back down at the floor.

"Oh, don't be like that." Ace inched closer a little bit."You can tell me. There isn't anything to hide." Ace pointed out.

"Well, I guess telling only one pony isn't impossible." Weepy thought.

"That's the spirit." Ace tried his best pirate accent, which resulted in Weepy letting out a short giggle of amusement. "Now, the story?" Ace mentioned.

"Oh, well, I think I'll just start from the beginning." Weepy told Ace. "You see, when you took that pathway into the Canterlot Castle hallways, I knew that confronting Queen Chrysalis right where she could see you and being ale to take her down wouldn't be easy, so I thought of a different way around. I knew that if I left you guys right then and there, that you would all play as a distraction while I sneak my way around another possible entrance that she would least expect anypony to enter through. Right when everypony else had been defeated, and her guard had been down the most, I timed myself perfectly and managed to catch her in the back while casting a freezing spell on her. Any normal unicorn could simply freeze or heat up something, but if you were to freeze something solid or burn something to ashes, that would take a tremendous amount of energy, power, and magic that only little have."

"Little, like you." Ace added.

"And it just so happened that while Queen Chrysalis was too busy. With her with her own work, I was able to cast the spell on herself. It had been irreversible and even if it could be reversible, she would've frozen already before she even would have the time to realize what had been going on."

"Wow," Ace stood back in awe. "For one sad mare, you sure do come up with complex, yet workable plans. And to think we we're all just little toys to your big plan of success. Thanks to you, we finally claim victory and the safety of Canterlot once more."

"So, now what?" Weepy asked gently, hanging her head low.

"Now, we go home." Ace responded, looking around at the frozen Chrysalis statue that had it's mouth open. "What a disgusting waste of a life form."

Weepy giggled a little again. "You said it. She was actually part of the reason I was in captivity this entire time."

"You don't say?" Ace looked back at her, agreeing. "Well, I hope you like lifting other ponies, because we've got a long trail ahead of us." Ace said, looking around to see the rest of the gang unconscious on the floor.

All Weepy did was nod her head at what seemed to be her master. Walking over to where Rarity and Rainbow Dash and been, she quickly used her magic to lift the two slightly above her back. Ace had also done the same by placing Twilight and Thunder on his back, yet Strife always kept falling off and hitting the ground face first. It had been pretty funny when he did so and every now and the Ace and Weepy would let out a good laugh when he did so. But they both knew that he'd be in a lot of pain when he woke up.

Just as Weepy and Ace left the rescued city of Canterlot, back in the throne room, where Queen Chrysalis's ice statue had been, a light greed dot began glowing on where her soul had been. Just like that, her eyes began to move as well. Turns out she hadn't been dead, and the rest of the group would find out eventually, but for now, all that mattered was one thing.

Spectrum.

**Sweet Celestia! Shocker. Well, I'm glad to say this, but this is the end of the battle with queen Chrysalis and all that. the next few chapters (possibly 5-10) will be on the group after Spectrum. But I can't guarantee everything will go back to the way it was before. We still have Shadow and Dusk as well as a very special alicorn missing too. It'll take a while till everypony is united until then, but until then, review, like, favorite as always. Don't pretend you don't like this story.**

**Thanks to Krushnagza for proof-reading and still taking song recommendations. No OCs still (now that we have Weepy), just songs. :D**


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